Quebec’s decision to reopen schools sparks debate

Premier insists move not about herd immunity

Quebec’s decision to be the first province to reopen its day cares and elementary schools even as it grapples with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country is spurring heated debate as to whether it has chosen the right path.

The province’s health institute issued a statement on its Twitter account Tuesday appearing to criticize Premier François Legault’s decision to reopen schools in two weeks.

“A strategy in which we allow our youth to become infected will lead to a steep increase in the disease among adults and the pressure put on hospital services and intensive care units, without attaining the target of herd immunity sought,” the Institut national de santé publique wrote.

Legault said Monday the province would open elementary schools and day cares outside of Montreal as of May 11 and in Montreal, Laval and Longueuil on May 19 only if it felt it is in control of the outbreak.

He stressed the goal was not to create herd immunity, despite comments he made last week, but to lessen the negative consequences associated with missing their school environment. The province’s medical experts believe the risks for the younger age groups are minimal as long as controls are put in place for social distancing. Parents have the choice not to send their children to school, particularly if they or their young ones have health issues that put them at higher risk.

For some, the choice is clear. “Will I be sending my kids to school on May 19? No,” Claire Trottier, an education specialist and professor at McGill University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunity, wrote on Facebook. The fact she has asthma and is fortunate enough to have a stable home for her children with enough food to eat influence her decision. But more important, she said, there are costs to reopening that include risks to children and parents, teachers and staff with pre-existing conditions, and evidence of emerging complications for kids who get COVID-19.

The province has not proven itself capable of doing widespread testing for the general population and has a dismal record of contract tracing, which means “we are basically flying blind.” she said.

“And reopening in Montreal of all places? Montreal has the highest number of cases in the country.”

Epidemiologist Jay Kaufman, who works with McGill’s Department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health in the faculty of medicine, contends the government has done its job by choosing the plan that will do the least amount of harm.

“The best option here is to send the smallest kids back to school,” he said. “We have lots of evidence that there are bad things that happen because the kids are stuck at home, like their parents can’t work, and kids who require special services are not getting those special services. We have a quarter million kids in Quebec who rely on school breakfasts and are not getting those.”

Needs are especially great for the parents of children with handicaps or developmental disabilities who are normally cared for by trained professionals, and whose parents have been struggling for six weeks, he said.

The epidemiological evidence to date indicates young children don’t transmit the disease to other children or adults very much, if at all, Kaufman said. Those at greater risk are adult teachers, staff and bus drivers, so proper social-distancing measures must be put in place.

Teenagers and older youth do transmit the disease, so the government was right not to allow them to return to classes, Kaufman said.

The vast majority of Quebec’s cases are in long-term care centres and hospitals, “where there is no evidence there was transmission linked to day cares and elementary schools, so I think the province is being bold about looking at the science and making decisions that benefit the population as best they can.”

Concordia psychology professor William Bukowski noted that school provides an important developmental structure for young children, both educationally and emotionally.

“I think that one overlooked asset to going back is that they need their friends — friends are not a luxury,” he said.

“The experience that kids have with their friends are important. And even more so in times of uncertainty.”

Studies have shown that being among friends helps children to relieve stress, he noted.

As with students going back in the fall, parents can expect their children to be more anxious when they return to school in May, but they should return to their normal selves before long, Bukowski said.

“I think that for parents, teachers — support their kids, maybe even a bit more than usual, and they will get past this.”

Postmedia News

MONTREAL HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CASES IN THE COUNTRY.

PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS The Quebec government has announced plans to gradually reopen schools across the province, a move which is drawing criticism from some as too risky and putting children unnecessarily at risk of getting COVID-19.