Despite COVID concerns, expert says schools across Canada should go ahead with precautions

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Many people have concerns about what the coming school year will look like, when it comes to managing COVID-19, but an expert says schools are important and should proceed — albeit with precautions in place.

Alberta-based infectious diseases expert Dr. Andrew Morris outlines his thoughts on the matter in an online newsletter. He admits the return to school amid the continuation of COVID-19 infections is “understandably a time of extreme anxiety for everyone,” but that “school is the essential work of children, thus it should be heavily prioritized.”

Concerns have been mounting with the recent rise in B.C. case counts, driven by the Delta variant.

Pointing to recent recommendations made by the Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table, Morris has outlined a number of takeaways. He says if schools can go ahead, they should.

“Vaccination has changed the overall population risk of COVID, so using school closures primarily as a tool to influence community transmission — without direct concern for kids’ safety — is probably unwise,” his newsletter reads.

Related video: How to navigate a “near-normal” return to B.C. schools

He adds some measures brought in last year at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic should “be part of the new normal,” noting staying home when sick, improving and maintaining indoor air quality, cleaning, and personal hygiene are all things that should continue.

However, he doesn’t believe all districts across Canada will be able to achieve air quality standards by the time the school bell rings.

“All of these measures are good for non-COVID viruses as well, such as influenza and RSV,” Morris adds.

When it comes to extra-curriculars, such as sports and music, he believes decisions should be made by parents and schools.


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However, he does have his own recommendations.

“They are all variably safe when case rates are low,” Morris writes. “But I am anticipating that case rates will not be substantially low in the ensuing 2 months, meaning that they are best done outdoors as much as possible, masked as much as possible, and spread out as much as possible. Again, being a kid at school is the essential work of kids, and so it is unwise to just turn a blind eye to all of this.”

Morris’ thoughts are being shared at a time when teachers in B.C. are lobbying for advanced measures to control COVID-19.

Some educators are particularly focusing on trying to get the province to bring in a mask mandate for schools. The BC Teachers’ Federation is among those pushing for such a mandate, despite Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry saying previously that schools will function close to normal as B.C. moves into Stage 4.

Related video: B.C. teachers press for masks

“Both youth and children that aren’t vaccinated yet, or not fully vaccinated or not eligible. So we still need to have some layers of protections, and without masking we’re really not going to have it,” BCTF President Teri Mooring said, adding a mask mandate remains key in keeping staff and students safe.

Mooring wants to see masking across the board when school starts in September, and then phased out regionally for areas with lower transmission rates.

In a release last month, the BCCDC say that during the 2020-21 school year, schools were low-risk for COVID-19 transmission.

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