Image Credit: Flickr / Government of BC

By David Buckna

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: Be kind, be calm, be safe — be last

Oct 8, 2021 | 10:19 AM

Currently in British Columbia, about half of the unvaccinated population is under 12 years of age.

On Oct. 1, after weeks of pressure from parents and teachers, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the mask mandate in schools would be extended to include all students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, effective Oct. 4.

This is just the latest example of Dr. Henry and Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.’s Minister of Education, being reactive instead of proactive.

Following the press briefing, BCTF President Teri Mooring said she was happy to hear the mask mandate was increased, but had wanted it put in place in September. She said, “perhaps some children that ended up getting sick might not have…. Following the data doesn’t preclude putting in preventative measures.” (BC Today, CBC Radio)

During the last week of September, the Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby school boards voted to pass their own mask mandates to include Kindergarten to Grade 3 students. From the Burnaby Board of Education’s press release: “Beginning Monday October 4, the Board will require all students in K-12 to wear masks while indoors at school, unless medically, developmentally, behaviourally or otherwise legitimately precluded from doing so.”

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Three days before, Dr. Henry had shared the data. “The rates that we’re seeing right now, of COVID-19 per 100,000 population, is going up quite dramatically, particularly in those younger school-aged children (between the ages of five and 11) who are not yet eligible for vaccination.”

If this isn’t a red flag, what is?

Also at the Sept. 28 briefing, when a reporter asked Dr. Henry why the government won’t put a mask mandate in place for all students, she deflected the question with her typical verbose Bonniespeak: “I have tasked, as I said, our school team that works together. They meet two to three times a week to look at every individual situation, and particularly look at those communities where we have higher transmission rates and lower vaccination rates, to see what we need to do in the province to make sure we can make schools continue to operate safely.”

If the B.C. government had been proactive, it would have sent out a supply of rapid tests to every school in the province in January 2021, after the federal government shipped nearly 42 million high-quality rapid tests to all provinces and territories. The BCTF has been calling for rapid testing in schools, especially now that children make up more than 30 per cent of new COVID-19 cases per day. The latest statistics show Nova Scotia has used 460 federal rapid rests per 1000 people. B.C. is — wait for it — last among the provinces, using only 20 federal rapid tests per 1000 people.

If a teacher notices a student has flu-like symptoms, or a student says he or she doesn’t feel well, the student should be tested by a staff member who is trained to administer a rapid test, just as every school is required to have staff members with First Aid/CPR training from an organization such as the Red Cross or St. John Ambulance.

Go to the B.C. School COVID Tracker website (run by parents), type in the name of your community and click “search”. Then compare it with the information on the Interior Health weblink showing COVID-19 school exposures.

Which site has the most up-to-date and detailed information?

Has the government changed the definition of “school exposure”? On Oct. 1 a commenter on Twitter said it was clear from surveying the Island Health web link that they are not listing all exposures. Changing the definition to avoid transparency would be a violation of the commitment the government made to parents and teachers. In 2020, Dr. Henry said a school exposure is when an individual confirmed with COVID-19 attended school during their infectious period.

After pressure from parents, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kiernan Moore announced rapid testing at schools in high-risk areas and child-care centres. Parents will be able to choose if their children participate in the screening, offered by their schools or licensed child-care. Surrey’s District Parent Advisory Council wants the province to follow Ontario’s lead.

Quebec is using rapid tests in elementary schools in parts of the province, and plans to make them available in all regions next week, while in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, self-testing projects are already being tried or expanded. In New Brunswick, unvaccinated students deemed a contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be provided with up to a 10-day supply of rapid tests. Alberta has also announced it is boosting rapid testing, and will be sending rapid testing kits home in areas where there are school outbreaks. Kits will be offered in schools that have 10 or more cases. Parents will be able to obtain them from their child’s school and administer them at home.

Dr. Henry debuted the phrase “Be kind, be calm and be safe” in March 2020. Since then she has used the phrase dozens of times in her press briefings. But now that several provinces are ramping up rapid testing for children, perhaps it’s time for Dr. Henry to add: “be last”.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.