BC group suggests schools will not be safe fearing COVID-19 risk

For many BC residents, COVID-19 seems to be in the rearview, but one concerned group of BC residents, parents, doctors, and professionals is calling on leaders to do more ahead of a new school year, fearing current conditions are unsafe in schools.

BC health officials have suggested that the province could see a COVID-19 resurgence come this fall during the respiratory season, and Protect Our Province BC (PoP BC) is demanding that Health Minister Adrian Dix and Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside do more before the school year starts.

“Schools, just like children, are not islands. COVID-19 transmission between school and community is bi-directional,” said Dr. Lyne Filiatrault, a PoP BC member, in a statement.

That statement from PoP BC includes an open letter to provincial leaders suggesting that more children in BC have been hospitalized during the Omicron waves in 2022 than in the entire previous two years of the pandemic. The statement includes BCCDC situation reports as well as CDC reports about long covid in children.

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Another key concern from PoP BC is the lack of vaccination in school-aged children. The statement suggests only 46% of five to 11-year-olds have had two full doses as of July 31.

“One of the cornerstones of public education in Canada is that all children have the right to access school. Universal masking in schools is a human rights issue. It allows all students, all children, and families to participate in the public education system,” said Jennifer Heighton, a teacher and co-founder of the Safe Schools Coalition BC and PoP BC.

PoP BC believes to open schools with the current protections in place, or lack thereof, “will predictably lead to rampant COVID-19 infections and reinfections within schools with subsequent spread to the community.”

“BC parents have already lived through this when Omicron first appeared and school reopened last January.”

School is set to be back in session on September 7, and as of August 29, there are no mandated health protocols in schools. Schools are also back to full-time in-class learning. Masks are currently voluntary, and the only measures the BC government website suggests taking include getting vaccinated, staying home when sick and regular hand cleaning.

PoP BC is asking for a specific strategy to be implemented called SMART to keep schools safe.

SMART stands for:

Stay home when symptomatic
Mask-up (N95, KN95 or KF94)
Air cleaners in every classroom
Refresh indoor air
Test, Trace, and Isolate policies (based on aerosol spread)

PoP BC is asking for classroom notifications “to allow parents/guardians to make fully informed risk assessments for their children and families.”

The group is also asking for the return of remote options for those who are at high risk, or for those who live with at-risk family members.

“Our children should not be repeatedly exposed to and infected with a novel virus. Avoiding COVID-19 infection is the best way to ensure a future full of potential and free from (further) disability for all our children.”