WINDSOR, ONT. -- Windsor-Essex parents are looking for childcare options as schools are set to close for two weeks following March break to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Based on advice from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health and the experts at the COVID-19 Command Table, the Minister of Education issued an order Thursday to close all publicly-funded schools in Ontario for two weeks after the break.
Parents who still have to work during this time are now scrambling to find alternative care for their children.
“Everyone is panicking. I was also scared,” says Rimpi, a mother of two. “Today I was scared to send my kids to school.”
Dennis Suich, who has one child in daycare and another child in high school, says it’s up to the parents to sort it out.
“We’ll have to make it work, probably take some more time off work,” says Suich.
All schools in Windsor-Essex, including the public, Catholic and French boards, have been ordered to remain closed from March 14 through to April 5, 2020.
“We recognize the significant impact this decision will have on families, students, schools, as well as the broader community, but this precaution is necessary to keep people safe,” said a post on the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board website.
