By Chris Brown

School spacing and masks

Hinshaw: Recommendations based on overall health of all Albertans

Sep 2, 2020 | 12:21 PM

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says easing distancing restrictions in the classroom is a widely-used practice in other provinces and countries as students return to schools this week.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says nothing has changed from when guidance on school reopening was first released.

“That is, where two metres is possible between students, that is the goal. But where it is not possible, maximum spacing with students not facing each other is an acceptable alternative,” she says.

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Hinshaw says the guidance was developed after many conversations on the benefits and risks of moving to a model such as scenario two, where it would be possible to keep two metres between all students.

In that scenario, students spent half their time in the class and half at home doing remote learning. She said that would enable smaller classes and increased distancing, but comes with other risks.

She said that could mean additional costs of child care for parents that are working, or that some parents may need to rely on grandparents for that half of the week that students are not at school, which could put those older Albertans at risk.

“In public health, we have the responsibility of making our best recommendations for the overall health of Albertans,” saying that includes recommendations to minimize the risk of COVID spread and minimizing the impacts the interventions have on children’s overall health.

“Facilitating our children’s ability to return to in-school classes has a significant overall benefit to their health and the long-term health of our population and I therefore felt that this was an acceptable adjustment to make,” she said.

Hinshaw also spoke to why masks are not required in classrooms when two-metre distancing is not possible. She says mandatory masking was added as additional protection in common areas where students from different cohorts would be in close quarters and where there are close interactions outside of seated learning time.

“Masks alone cannot stop COVID-19. They are not a perfect solution but rather an additional layer of protection on top of all the other measures in place to prevent spread,” she said, adding requiring masks in the classroom could interfere with communication and learning.

She said the school mask-wearing policy is consistent with B.C., Quebec and in other countries.