The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Unmasking students bad idea: NSTU
Masks are coming off in Nova Scotia classrooms as soon as the province shifts into Phase 5 of the COVID-19 reopening plan but the union that represents teachers working in front of the class says it's an ill-advised move.
“Basically if we don't have masks, we don't have protections so there is real concern that we are potentially exposing kids to an undue level of risk,” said Paul Wozney, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, which represents 9,300 active teachers, psychologists, speech language pathologists and social workers who spend their days in school.
“We know now that you can be double vaccinated, and by all accounts the vast majority of teachers are, but double vaccination isn't an immunity against getting COVID. We've seen people that are double vaccinated, no pre-existing health conditions, perfectly healthy people, suffer very severe harms.
“There is a significant level of alarm on the part of teachers that we don't really have significant protections, especially where we are dealing with small, crowded classrooms and a huge population of unvaccinated people.”
At a news conference following a Thursday morning cabinet meeting, Education Minister Becky Druhan said the department is working closely with and taking direction from public health, as schools get set to open on Tuesday.
“I understand people's concerns, people are really nervous about this,” said Druhan, in her second day on the job after being sworn in as minister on Wednesday.
“I've heard from folks who very passionately feel that their children should continue to wear masks and I've heard from folks who very passionately feel that masks should come off.”
Druhan said the department is also working with a pediatric advisory committee.
“The considerations are not just public health considerations but also considerations of the broader health and well-being of children,” she said. “We're very confident of the plans that we currently have in place and will continue to adjust and adapt as needed as epidemiology changes.”
Those plans are for students, like the general public, to no longer be required to wear masks after the province moves into Phase 5, which generally signals the lifting of all restrictions. Premier Tim Houston and Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, say the timing of the move to Phase 5 will primarily be dictated by when 75 per cent of the province's population achieves double vaccination.
The Canadian COVID-19 tracker reports that more than 757,464 people from Nova Scotia had received at least one dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine by Thursday and 692,191 Nova Scotians had been fully vaccinated.
As of Thursday, just shy of 71 per cent of Nova Scotians have been double vaccinated but the steady climb toward the magic 75 per cent has stalled in recent days.
“I have reached out to Minister Druhan and expressed an interest in talking about potentially how we might improve the back-to-school plan,” Wozney said. “I anticipate that we'll be speaking soon.
“We're clear on our concern,” Wozney said of the Sept. 15 target date to push into Phase 5.
Wozney said the phased approach to reopening has been based on moving ahead only when the epidemiology has been monitored for a minimum of two weeks and provides meaningful data to assess “whether or not relaxing protections doesn't send us back to a really bad place with COVID.”
Wozney said the province has been served well by being “very cautious” in its approach in schools but the unmasking plan betrays that caution.
“We won't know a week into school whether or not the protections that are in place, and there are very few in this back-to-school plan, are enough to keep COVID from getting into schools and spreading like wildfire.”
Wozney said it would be wise to maintain the protections that have been in place “for a significant period of time, at least a month,” until it's proven that fears about Delta spreading in schools and hitting unvaccinated students and staff are unfounded.
He said the union's and the teachers' concerns are centred on elementary students who are under 12 and who will not be eligible for vaccination until sometime in 2022.
“Children under 12 are the largest unvaccinated population in the province,” Wozney said. “Even when we look at the 12 to 18 age group, less than half of those students are vaccinated. Together, schools are the single largest congregation of unvaccinated people on a daily basis anywhere in the province. They are being sent into classrooms, where they are 30-plus, where ventilation is an issue, where physical distancing is not possible, there is no access to hand-washing.
“We talk about all these maintenance habits that we've adopted. Basically if we don't have masks, we don't have protections.”
Spread is not “something that we've seen significantly happen in schools,” Druhan said. “All of the schools are being inspected for their safety, including the question of ventilation. As in past years, the records of those inspections are available for people if they'd like to check them out. We are very confident that schools will be safe and ready for students when they arrive next week.”
Wozney said it's difficult to say if the new government will consider a change of direction on masking.
“There's not a lot of water under the bridge to know whether this government is going to be like Stephen Mcneil, where once he made up his mind it was over, or whether this is a government that will by listening to stakeholders improve its policy, making adjustments along the way,” Wozney said.
“I'm hopeful. This is a government that has promised to be materially different from the last government in that respect.”
Health Minister Michelle Thompson said Thursday the extension of hours at drop-in clinics and the return of university students to campuses should provide a bump in vaccinations en route to the 75 per cent target.