Advocacy group calls for increased COVID-19 risk mitigation in Manitoba schools
With COVID-19 cases in school-aged children rising across the province, advocacy group Safe Schools Manitoba is calling on the provincial government to increase risk mitigation efforts in the classroom.
Throughout the pandemic, the group, consisting of parents, teachers and community members, has been advocating for vaccinations for children and school staff as well as a mask mandate in schools.
“The third mitigation measure that’s incredibly important and effective is high-quality air ventilation and filtration so that the COVID-19 virus, which we now clearly know is primarily airborne and not spread through the air by droplets, that there are mitigation efforts to stop that transmission in schools,” said Luanne Karn, co-organizer for Safe September.
On Friday, the group set up an information booth at the Manitoba Legislature displaying examples of what they call a “Safe Shared Air Classroom Kit,” which will be delivered to both the premier and ministers of health and education.
The kit includes portable CO2 monitors, portable HEPA filtration units and KN95-type masks for students and school staff.
Safe Schools said the kits are simple and inexpensive measures that can, when layered together, can decrease the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19.
Karn said she was pleased with the provincial government’s Thursday announcement of $6.8 million that can provide HEPA filtration units for about 6,000 classrooms.
“We need them immediately. Christmas presents. Deliver them in December because the winter months are when we have the most recycled air in the classrooms,” Karn said.
Karn also said the use of cloth masks in the classroom offers inadequate protection and wants all students and staff to wear KN95-type masks. She estimates the cost to be around $30 million.
“The number of cases in children under 12 is increasing, the outbreaks in Manitoba schools are increasing, we believe in keeping schools open,” said Karn. “If this government doesn’t implement these measures, we’ll look at more school shutdowns in January.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.