Ontario to keep schools closed for in-person learning until autumn

FILE PHOTO: A grade two classroom awaits students at Hunter's Glen Junior Public School, part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), a day before classes reopen for the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada September 14, 2020. Nathan Denette/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters) - The Canadian province of Ontario will keep schools closed for in-person learning until the new school year starts in September, even as COVID-19 case counts flatten and the province considers an earlier reopening than initially planned, Premier Doug Ford announced on Wednesday.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, took schools back to online learning in April as the variant-driven third wave of COVID-19 threatened to overwhelm hospital and healthcare systems.