Nearly one out of every 100 public schools in Ontario are now closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks or operational reasons related to the pandemic, representing a sizeable jump from just one day prior.

The Ministry of Education says that there are now 47 schools that have been switched to remote learning temporarily as the Omicron-fueled fourth wave of the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on in-person learning.

While school closures have been on the rise for the last week the increase recorded since Tuesday represents a sizeable acceleration, with the number of schools that have been switched to remote learning jumping from 28 to 47.

There are also now 334 schools with active outbreaks, accounting for about seven per cent of all public schools.

That number is up from 313 one day prior, which itself was a record for the entire pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of school-related cases being reported continues to rise in lockstep with the case growth in the broader community.

On Wednesday morning publicly-funded school boards reported another 384 new cases in students ands staff.

That is a 52 per cent increase from the previous single-day high recorded at this time last week (252).

To date, more than 10,000 school-related cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed since September

“It’s my hope that we keep schools open as long as we can. You have heard my mantra of first open last to close,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said on Tuesday when asked about the sudden rise in cases. “We are reviewing every protocol that we have to make our schools even safer in the face of Omicron and we'll be announcing some of those recommendations in the coming days to continue to keep our schools safe.”

A number of GTHA public school boards told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday they are asking students to bring home wireless devices and other items for the holiday break in the event schools do not reopen in January.

According to the latest data, there are now 1,094 Ontario schools with at least one active case of COVID-19, up from 860 at this time last week.

There are also 2,675 active cases associated with the public school system.

The number of school closures is the highest it has been since the third wave of the pandemic in the spring.

Back then the number of schools that were closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks reached a high of 62, prior to a switch to in-person learning following the delayed March break in April.