Masks will now be required by all students in staff in schools across B.C., with the province updating its mask mandate effective Friday, Oct. 1. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

SCHOOL SAFETY

Province expands school mask mandate to include K-3 students & staff

Oct 1, 2021 | 10:40 AM

NANAIMO — The province is extending its long-standing mask mandate for school students to cover everyone from kindergarten to grade 12.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the change in direction on Friday, Oct. 1 in response to a steady rise in case volumes among school aged children.

“This additional measure we are putting in place today is one more layer that will ensure we can continue to engage and support children through this ever changing pandemic,” Henry said.

The order will remain in place for the remainder of the school year, unless repealed by the province.

During the 2020/21 school year, masks were required by all middle and secondary school students, with it being expanded to students from grades 4 to 12 for the current school year.

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Henry said this extra step will add to existing measures already in place in schools.

“Everything from reduced mixing of classes staggering break times reducing people in the school system particularly, if they’re not vaccinated and things like ventilation and increasing outdoor activities. All of these are important layers and adding masks is just one more.”

Data from public health showed testing and COVID-positive rates in schools closely mirrored the vaccination rate in their surrounding communities with areas showing more vaccine hesitancy often resulting in higher case loads in schools.

Henry said the situation will continue to be monitored with additional or fewer restrictions in place as case data changed.

“For the next few months particularly, we need to keep the priority on the schools. This might mean keeping other social activities outside of school smaller or more limited. Knowing these high rates of vaccination are so protective and are making the difference for allowing all of these other important social interactions to occur too.

As recently as Tuesday, Sept. 28, Henry said there were no plans to implement a mandatory mask mandate for students in kindergarten to grade three.

The comment came on the day after the Vancouver School Board passed an enhanced mask mandate covering K-3 students. Boards in Burnaby and Surrey had taken similar steps in the days since.

School District 68 trustee Jessica Stanley indicated on Twitter on Thursday, Sept. 30, her support for a K-3 mask mandate and said she would bring it up at a future board meeting.

Tuesday’s briefing from the province also saw Henry report a spike in testing and case volumes, with a test positive rate between five and 10 per cent, among school students since returning to class.

Henry singled out the north and central Vancouver Island regions where testing rates rose substantially, however mentioned they had levelled off recently.

She added the spike in testing wasn’t unexpected and mirrored what public health saw as kids returned to class in September 2020.

“We are seeing colds and flus going through our school aged children, some of it is COVID and we do need to continue to test and continue to monitor and to keep children home if they’re not feeling well right now,” Henry said Tuesday.

A graph of case rates among all age groups in various health authorities across the province, with a noticable spike in September when students returned to class. (BC Government)

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