Coronavirus: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on Dec. 1

Here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Tuesday:

Pandemic changes policies on ‘snow days’ for some Greater Toronto Area school boards

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to virtual class, some GTA school boards are using the new tool to avoid students losing a day of learning due to snowy, rainy and icy winter weather that may force bus transportation to be cancelled or schools to be closed.

Some school boards are cancelling in-person classes and moving to online learning when buses are cancelled over safety concerns for class cohorts. One school board is still keeping schools open when buses are cancelled for elementary students. Others are cancelling in-person and virtual school when schools are deemed closed due to bad weather.

City of Mississauga temporarily lays off approximately 1,100 employees

The City of Mississauga has announced it is laying off several hundred employees as the region remains in a grey lockdown zone of restrictions imposed by the Ontario government.

“With these closures, the City of Mississauga has again made the difficult decision to temporarily lay-off approximately 1,100 part-time employees who work at these facilities effective Dec. 7.”

The statement said most of employees laid off are in the community services department.

“We will continue to assess the impact of the lockdown to City operations, communicate with those impacted and have made our employee and family assistance program available to all staff during this difficult time,” Mississauga City Manager Paul Mitcham wrote.

Status of cases in the GTA

Ontario reported a total of 1,707 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

Of those:

• 727 were in Toronto
• 373 were in Peel Region
• 168 were in York Region
• 72 were in Durham Region
• 47 were in Halton Region

Ontario reports 1,707 new COVID-19 cases, 7 more deaths

Ontario reported 1,707 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the provincial total to 118,199.

The death toll in the province has risen to 3,663 as seven more deaths were reported.

More than 34,600 tests were processed in the last 24 hours. Resolved cases increased by 1,373 from the previous day.

Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 2,228 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is an increase of five deaths.

There are 109 current outbreaks in homes, unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 743 active cases among long-term care residents and 509 active cases among staff — up by 33 cases and up by 26 cases respectively in the last day.

Ontario child care centres and schools

Meanwhile, government figures show there have been a total of 4,872 school-related COVID-19 cases in Ontario — 3,107 among students and 677 among staff (1,088 individuals were not identified). This is an increase of 299 more cases over a three-day period.

The COVID-19 cases are currently from 737 out of 4,828 schools in the province. Six schools in Ontario are currently closed as a result of positive cases, the government indicated.

There have been a total of 806 confirmed cases within child care centres and homes — an increase of 40 (21 child cases and 19 staff cases.) Out of 5,249 child care centres in Ontario, 154 currently have cases and 18 centres are closed.