Ontario mulls cancelling March break in effort to curb spread of COVID-19

TORONTO

The Canadian Press

Published February 4, 2021 Updated February 4, 2021

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Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks at Queen’s Park, in Toronto, on Aug, 13, 2020.

Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press

Ontario is considering cancelling March break in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he hopes to have a decision by next week.

He says he’s asked the province’s chief medical officer of health for his expert opinion.

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News of the potential spring break cancellation comes a day after Lecce released plans to reopen those schools still closed in the coming weeks.

Schools in Toronto, Peel and York are to reopen on Feb. 16, while those in other public health units where in-person classes haven’t resumed reopen Feb. 8.

Lecce says he will base the March break decision entirely on “public health imperatives.”

The large number of COVID-19 infections in some places makes it more likely for new variants of the virus to emerge. Science Reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains how vaccines may not be as effective against these new strains, making it a race to control and track the spread of variants before they become a dangerous new outbreak. The Globe and Mail

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The Zero Canada Project provides resources to help you manage your health, your finances and your family life as Canada reopens.

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“, ].join(“”); } /** * Adds the overlay trigger dot class * @param {String} type – “unread” or “no-follow” */ function addOverlayTriggerDot(type) { overlayTriggerDotClasses.forEach(function fn(dotClass) { if (dotClass === “c-your-globe__trigger–dot–” + type) { overlayTrigger.classList.add(dotClass); } else { overlayTrigger.classList.remove(dotClass); } }); overlayTrigger.classList.add(“c-your-globe__trigger–dot”); } /** * Removes the overlay trigger dot class */ function removeOverlayTriggerDot() { overlayTriggerDotClasses.forEach(function fn(dotClass) { overlayTrigger.classList.remove(dotClass); }); overlayTrigger.classList.remove(“c-your-globe__trigger–dot”); } /** * Returns a heading element to be displayed inside the overlay * @param {String} text * @returns {String} */ function overlayLabel(text) { return “” + text + “”; } var overlayHeadingHasFollowed = ( overlayLabel(“The latest in topics and authors you follow”) + “

View more in Following

” ); var overlayHeadingNoFollowed = ( overlayLabel(“Get started: build your personal news feed”) + “” + “

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” + “” ); var upToDateMessage = “

You’re up to date on your Following feed. Check again later for new stories.

“; // ************************************************ // Parse API response and inject markup into overlay // ************************************************ // Story card markup /** * Stories originally came from the following locations in the API response: * – data.articles[i].items[i].topics * – data.articles[i].items[i].authors * @param {Array} stories * @returns {String} story card markup */ function latestStoryCards(stories) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Display latest stories based on these stories:”, stories); var storyCards = stories.map(function fn(story) { // The “topics” and “authors” arrays will only contain one item // (i.e. the topic or author that the user is following) var topic; var topicData; if (story.topics && story.topics.length) { // Normal topic topic = story.topics[0]; topicData = { topicName: topic.name, topicSlug: topic.slug, topicType: “topic”, topicVariation: “following” }; } else if (story.authors && story.authors.length) { // Author topic topic = story.authors[0]; // Only authors have images associated with them – normal topics do not var authorImg = topic.metadata && topic.metadata.image ? topic.metadata.image : null; topicData = { topicName: topic.byline, topicSlug: topic.slug, topicType: “author”, topicVariation: “following”, topicImg: authorImg }; } // Don’t display a follow button beside the topic because the user is already following it return storyCard(story, topicData, false); }).join(“”); return storyCards; } /** * @param {Array} topics * @param {String} variation – “recommended” or “trending” (used for the click tracking analytics) * @returns {String} story card markup */ function recommendedTrendingStoryCards(topics, variation) { var uniqueStories = generateUniqueStory(topics); var storyCards = uniqueStories.map(function fn(topic) { // Grab one article var story = topic.items[0]; // Only authors have images associated with them – normal topics do not var authorImg = topic.authorTopic && topic.authorMetadata && topic.authorMetadata.image ? topic.authorMetadata.image : null; // Normally we’d display all of the topics that are assigned to an article, but // this API groups articles by topic, so we only have access to that one topic. // Even if we could display additional topics, we wouldn’t want to becuase having // multiple follow buttons would junk up the UI. var topicData = { topicName: topic.name, topicSlug: topic.slug, topicType: topic.authorTopic ? “author” : “topic”, topicVariation: variation, topicImg: authorImg }; // Display the follow button beside the topic because we’re suggesting new topics to follow return storyCard(story, topicData, true); }).join(“”); return storyCards; } /** * Topics originally came from the following locations in the API response: * – data.recommendedAuthors * – data.recommendedTopics * @param {Array} topics * @returns {String} story card markup */ function recommendedStoryCards(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Display recommended stories based on these topics:”, topics); return recommendedTrendingStoryCards(topics, “recommended”); } /** * Topics originally came from the following location in the API response: * – data.trendingTopics * @param {Array} topics * @returns {String} story card markup */ function trendingStoryCards(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Display trending stories based on these topics:”, topics); return recommendedTrendingStoryCards(topics, “trending”); } // Markup inside the overlay /** * @param {Array} stories * @returns {Object} markup for the overlay’s header and body content areas */ function showLatestStories(stories) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Scenario: latest stories”); var storyCardsMarkup = latestStoryCards(stories); return { header: overlayHeadingHasFollowed, body: storyCardsMarkup }; } /** * @param {Array} topics * @returns {Object} markup for the overlay’s header and body content areas */ function upToDateShowRecommended(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Scenario: up to date, show recommended”); var storyCardsMarkup = recommendedStoryCards(topics); return { header: overlayHeadingHasFollowed, body: ( upToDateMessage + overlayLabel(“Recommended for you”) + storyCardsMarkup ) }; } /** * @param {Array} topics * @returns {Object} markup for the overlay’s header and body content areas */ function upToDateShowTrending(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Scenario: up to date, show trending”); var storyCardsMarkup = trendingStoryCards(topics); return { header: overlayHeadingHasFollowed, body: ( upToDateMessage + overlayLabel(“Trending topics to follow”) + storyCardsMarkup ) }; } /** * @param {Array} topics * @returns {Object} markup for the overlay’s header and body content areas */ function notFollowingShowRecommended(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Scenario: not following, show recommended”); var storyCardsMarkup = recommendedStoryCards(topics); return { header: overlayHeadingNoFollowed, body: ( overlayLabel(“Recommended for you”) + storyCardsMarkup ) }; } /** * @param {Array} topics * @returns {Object} markup for the overlay’s header and body content areas */ function notFollowingShowTrending(topics) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] Scenario: not following, show trending”); var storyCardsMarkup = trendingStoryCards(topics); return { header: overlayHeadingNoFollowed, body: ( overlayLabel(“Trending topics to follow”) + storyCardsMarkup ) }; } /** * Parse data from the personalized API and inject markup into the overlay * @see https://confluence.theglobeandmail.com/display/ARC/Logic+for+Embedded+on+Homepage++and+Your+Globe+Overlay * @param {Object} data – topic and story data provided by the API */ function parsePerzonalizedTopicsData(data) { console.info(“[ARC-7130] parsePerzonalizedTopicsData”, data); var overlayHeader = qs(“.c-your-globe__overlay-header”); var overlayHeaderText = qs(“.c-your-globe__overlay-header-text”); var overlayBody = qs(“.c-your-globe__overlay-body”); if (!overlayHeader || !overlayHeaderText || !overlayBody) { return; } var totalTopicsFollowed = data.totalTopicsFollowed || 0; var totalAuthorsFollowed = data.totalAuthorsFollowed || 0; var recommendedTopics = data.recommendedTopics || []; var recommendedAuthors = data.recommendedAuthors || []; var latestStories = data.articles || []; var topics = []; var stories = []; var markup = “”; var headerBorder = true; if (totalTopicsFollowed || totalAuthorsFollowed) { if (latestStories.length) { // Scenario 1: “Latest stories” stories = generateLatestStories(latestStories); markup = showLatestStories(stories); // Similar to displayLatestAndRecommended() in ARC-6292 addOverlayTriggerDot(“unread”); } else { if (recommendedTopics.length || recommendedAuthors.length) { // Scenario 2: “Up to date, show recommended” topics = recommendedAuthors.concat(recommendedTopics); markup = upToDateShowRecommended(topics); // Similar to displayRecommendedTrendingTopicList(“rec”) in ARC-6292 } else { // Scenario 3: “Up to date, show trending” topics = data.trendingTopics || []; markup = upToDateShowTrending(topics); // Similar to displayRecommendedTrendingTopicList(“trend”) in ARC-6292 } } } else { topics = recommendedAuthors.concat(recommendedTopics); if (topics.length) { // Scenario 4: “Not following, show recommended” markup = notFollowingShowRecommended(topics); // Similar to displayThreeTopicsOneStory(“rec”) in ARC-6292 } else { // Scenario 5: “Not following, show trending” topics = data.trendingTopics || []; markup = notFollowingShowTrending(topics); // Similar to displayThreeTopicsOneStory(“trend”) in ARC-6292 } addOverlayTriggerDot(“no-follow”); headerBorder = false; } console.info(“[ARC-7130] Append markup”); var spinner = qs(“.c-spinner”); spinner && spinner.parentElement.removeChild(spinner); overlayHeaderText.insertAdjacentHTML(“afterbegin”, markup.header); overlayBody.insertAdjacentHTML(“afterbegin”, markup.body); if (!headerBorder) { overlayHeader.classList.add(“c-your-globe__overlay-header–no-border”); } addFollowingFunctionality(); } // ************************************************ // API calls // ************************************************ /** * Get the personalized feed * @param {String} hashId – user’s hash id * @param {String} env – environment * @see https://confluence.theglobeandmail.com/display/ARC/Logic+for+Embedded+on+Homepage++and+Your+Globe+Overlay * @returns {Promise