Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced today the order for a phased school restart, as BC set a record breaking daily Covid-19 case count of 2,944.

The start date of classes for most children will be pushed back one week to January 10th, 2022. However, children of essential workers and staff will be able to return on January 4th, 2022.

This delay is being implemented to help health officials get a better understanding of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, and to give the education system more time to get enhanced safety protocols into place.

Teachers will return to school on January 4th, to prepare for the week ahead.

As students begin to file in on the delayed date, the province will be using measures like staggered start times, to ease some of the strain on contact tracing.

Dr. Henry says the reopening delay will not be extended past the 10th, no matter what happens with case numbers in the province.

In addition to this education announcement, the province has reported that 88% of eligible people five and older have received their first dose of COVID 19-Vaccine in BC. While 82.8% have received their second dose.