The Ontario government announced on Thursday that online learning would be extended for most students in the province, which includes Prescott-Russell, as COVID-19 numbers continued to rise in the province. Elementary students were originally due to return to in-person classes on January 11, but will instead return at the same time as secondary students on January 25.

Northern Ontario’s schoolchildren will return to school as planned on January 11, but the region’s lockdown has been extended by another two weeks, equal to the measures in southern Ontario. All areas of the province would now remain in lockdown until January 23.

Ontario reported a record 3519 new COVID cases on Thursday. “We have to get the numbers down and today’s measures will help us continue to stop the spread of this deadly virus,” Premier Doug Ford said.