Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Students in some of Ontario’s largest school boards head back to class Thursday amid a fourth wave of COVID-19.
Some boards started their school years earlier this week, but today marks the first day of class for students in the Toronto, Peel, York and Durham boards.
It will be the third school year affected by the pandemic, though this year the province’s science experts are calling for schools to stay open in all but the most catastrophic circumstances.
COVID-19 safety will be top of mind for parents and students, and Ontario’s education minister says all 72 publicly funded school boards have achieved the goal of a stand-alone HEPA filter installed in every learning space that isn’t mechanically ventilated.
The Ministry of Education has sent guidelines to schools in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, which include requirements that staff and students self-screen for COVID-19 each day and wear masks indoors.
The province recently removed runny nose and headache from the list of COVID-19 symptoms that require children to stay home from school and get tested for COVID-19.
