The Red Zone: How Will This Change Havergal?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would know that we are currently in a pandemic. In March of 2020, Canada was hit with a wave of COVID-19, causing much economic and social distress, and the realization that COVID was real only hit us mid-March. In April, Ontario had its highest number of deaths caused by COVID. Ontario was able to make great progress in flattening the curve during the summer (Public Health Ontario)—even if that meant canceling all of our summer travel plans—and by July, several cities in Ontario, including Toronto, were able to successfully enter Stage 3 of reopening. But recently, with schools reopening, the number of cases in Ontario is rapidly increasing (Public Health Ontario). Toronto has now been moved to the “red zone”, which means tighter restrictions, mainly for restaurants, indoor sports and fitness facilities, and gatherings - for example, no indoor dining is permitted, only 10 people allowed inside fitness facilities, and a maximum of 10 people indoor gatherings. Despite this, there is still hope that this trend won’t continue, because US drugmaker Pfizer announced on Monday, November 8, that their coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective (Thomas et al.). Although these are early results, there is hope that a vaccine will become available by the end of the year. For this article, I’d like to hypothesize how Havergal might have to change due to the ever-rising cases.
First, a quick recap on the COVID-19 impact on Ontario. On March 12, the province announced that all public schools would close for two weeks following the March break, but this closure continued for the rest of the school year. Ontario Premier Doug Ford then declared a state of emergency on March 17, and all non-essential travel across the border became restricted (CTV News Toronto). Doug Ford’s order to close all non-essential businesses in Ontario on March 23 resulted in over one million people losing their jobs in the following three months (DeClerq). Although this was extremely hard on many small businesses and individuals, Ontario was able to successfully flatten the curve. But all that hard work seems to have been wasted, because as schools reopened in August, the number of new cases began to rise again. By late September, cases in Ontario exceeded the highest number of cases in mid-April (Public Health Ontario), and on November 11 Ontario reached a new daily high of 1426 new cases (CBC News).
How would a continuation of this trend change the learning at Havergal? Since school reopened in August, semester schedules, 60-minute lessons, flex blocks, co-curricular, and wellbeing programs have all been put in place to accommodate the COVID-19 regulations. As of now, we are still able to go to school in person, but as the number of cases continues to climb, I believe that the probability of Havergal returning to remote learning is very likely.
Not only are the number of cases much higher now than they were in April, but more people are becoming fed up with the COVID regulations, and are no longer as hopeful as they were in March. Therefore many are no longer as self-disciplined and strict with themselves about social distancing. And if Havergal returns to remote learning, in some ways, it will be harder on the students now than the first time around: the fast-paced semester schedule could feel even more intimidating to students without the extra guidance from teachers, students would be losing outdoor time and exercise because co-curricular might have to be canceled, and students would be separated from their friends and teachers again. The return to remote learning could also be very hard on many teachers—especially the semester two teachers—because they lose the chance to create deep bonds with their students. Havergal has also welcomed many new teachers this year, but because they have not experienced Havergal’s Remote Learning Plan, Zoom, classes, and Veracross could become very overwhelming to manage. But returning to remote learning could also be a good thing. For one, learning online may allow for more flexibility in everyone’s schedule, therefore students could get more sleep to help with stress and mental health. Second, remote learning is by far much safer than in-person learning as it prevents the virus from spreading between students and teachers. And thirdly, with so many new things put into place due to COVID, the RLP is something familiar for most students and staff. Therefore students may even feel less stress during remote learning, because we have already done this once in March. As the days get colder, learning outside the classroom will no longer be an option, therefore returning to the RLP may be Havergal’s best and only option to combat COVD-19.
Another option for Havergal is to hold classes outside once the weather gets warmer. Most doctors agree that you are safer outdoors than indoors, hence by learning outside, Havergal will be further preventing the spread of the virus. Havergal is also the perfect school to implement this change because of its large and well-maintained campus. Students can remain socially distant while learning on the Radcliffe field, North or South Quad, or even in the Lisa Hardy trail. This way, students would still be able to see their friends and teachers, and classes can be more engaging and interactive.
In summary, if a usable and effective vaccine is created soon, then the rising number of cases shouldn’t worry us too much. But for the time being, Havergal may very likely have to return to the Remote Learning Plan or allow classes to be taught outside of the classroom. But whether or not there will be a vaccine, everyone should still be trying their best to fulfill all safety measures such as wearing a mask and socially distancing. We’ve flattened the curve once, so let’s do it again!
Sources
CBC News. “Ontario reports 1,426 new COVID-19 cases, another record high.” CBC, 11 November 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-coronavirus-ontario-november-11-record-1.5798139. Accessed 11 November 2020.
CTV News Toronto. “Timeline: Emergency orders impacting Toronto and Ontario amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” CTV News, 3 April 2020, https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/timeline-emergency-orders-impacting-toronto-and-ontario-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.4881738. Accessed 11 November 2020.
Davidson, Sean. “Indoor dining in Toronto to stay closed until December as city moves to COVID-19 red zone.” CTV News, 10 November 2020, https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/indoor-dining-in-toronto-to-stay-closed-until-december-as-city-moves-to-covid-19-red-zone-1.5182202. Accessed 11 November 2020.
DeClerq, Katherine. “More than one million jobs lost in Ontario since pandemic was declared.” CTV News, 5 June 2020, https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/more-than-one-million-jobs-lost-in-ontario-since-pandemic-was-declared-1.4970777#:~:text=TORONTO%20%2D%2D%20Ontario%20has%20lost,rate%20to%2013.6%20per%20cent. Accessed 11 November 2020.
“How will COVID-19 change our lives, our country, our cities and our world?” The Globe and Mail, 21 May 2020, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-post-coronavirus-future-of-canada-and-the-world/. Accessed 11 Novemeber 2020.
Public Health Ontario. “COVID-19 in Ontario: January 15, 2020 to November 8, 2020.” Public Health Ontario, 8 November 2020, https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/epi/2020/covid-19-daily-epi-summary-report.pdf?la=en. Accessed 11 November 2020.
Thomas, Katie, et al. “Pfizer’s Early Data Shows Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective.” The New York Times, 9 November 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/health/covid-vaccine-pfizer.html?auth=linked-google. Accessed 10 November 2020.
Warrell, Margie. “Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?” Forbes, 24 March 2012, https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2012/05/24/text-or-talk-is-technology-making-you-lonely/?sh=54f3d342a7ba. Accessed 11 Novemeber 2020.