Calling for mandatory masks in schools when children return in September
Students are set to return to classes in September, without a requirement to wear masks at school.
Some parents and pediatricians are calling for a provincial mandate, to protect children.
“In the scope of understanding that children spend so much time indoors, in schools, it’s cautious and it’s protection to have these measures in place,” said Wing Li, with Support our Students.
The public education advocacy group is also calling for smaller class sizes and better ventilation in schools.
“We had to shut schools down twice… so moving forward, how can not we try to mitigate that,” said Li.
Public health measures are being eased and removed in schools.
“Masks have been proven to be very effective at decreasing COVID transmission in a number of indoor settings… with school being an indoor setting… masks are really an essential mitigation measure,” said Dr. Tehseen Ladha, a pediatrician and assistant professor at the University of Alberta.
“We also know that severe COVID is low risk in kids, but it’s not zero risk… we just need several more months of mitigation measures in schools to decrease the risk before that population becomes eligible for vaccine.”
Trials are underway to see if vaccines are safe for children under 12, but results aren’t expected for several months.
“If there is a fourth wave, and looks like there will be, it will largely be among the unvaccinated, and children under 12 are unvaccinated,” added Ladha.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending students up to Grade 12 continue to wear masks in schools.
“Right now we think that schools will have the option to choose what their school’s rules will be for their community, but that’s a patchwork,” said Li.
“A lot of them (parents) are disappointed that the government is doing nothing, it seems like, not even the bare minimum that we had last year.”
Some parents are waiting to see what case numbers are before deciding to send their kids back with masks or not.
“If the cases are high… I would say keep the masks going, but if the cases are low, maybe just go from there, take it month-by-month,” said Jessica Beaver, a mother of two.
According to Ladha, some parents against masking in schools are worried not being able to see faces will affect a child’s development.
“It’s been amazing to see how children can pick up on facial cues, even when half the face is masked,” said Ladha.
She believes that the greater risk to development would be if schools needed to be shut down again, due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.