NOTE: This article was updated on Friday, April 29, 2022 at approximately 3:20 p.m. Atlantic to include a response from the provincial Department of Health.
Sackville's MLA says the province should reinstate masking in schools, following a recommendation from the New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate.
The provincial government removed COVID-19 protections on March 14 - including the mask mandate in public schools - just as children returned from March Break.
That’s when the province ended its state of emergency for the second time since the global pandemic hit New Brunswick more than two years ago.
On Friday, child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock released a report calling for the government to "revert to the status quo that existed when the flawed decision" to lift the mask mandate came down, and to review the decision.
The inquiry found there was an “overreliance on following other provinces without providing evidence, projections and measurements that would justify the Public Health recommendation.” For more on this story, CHMA spoke to Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, the Green Party’s health and education critic.
Mitton said she's been hearing from parents and teachers who are concerned about their health and safety since the province lifted the mask mandate. "There's a real sense of feeling abandoned," she said. You can listen to the full interview here:
In an email, Bruce Macfarlane, communications director for the Department of Health, provided the following statement:
"Health recognizes the importance of empowering children and families to make choices regarding when to wear a mask and accepting and supporting all children whether they wear a mask or not. Every household is different, and New Brunswickers should feel comfortable in making a choice to wear masks in public spaces according to their individual risk," he said.
"The province’s overall high vaccination rate, along with low hospitalization rates among youth, contributed to its decision to remove mask mandates for the public, and for those in New Brunswick’s school system. Getting children vaccinated is the single most important thing parents can do to reduce COVID-19 related absenteeism in our schools. At present, 40 per cent of students aged 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. The vaccine is safe and effective, and it reduces transmission rates, which is very important in a school environment, especially with emerging and more contagious variants. Current New Brunswick surveillance data indicates that COVID-19 illness among children and youth under 20 years of age peaked in late March and has been trending downward since then."
He added: "Every effort is made to ensure New Brunswickers have timely access to rapid tests. There are over 50 sites for rapid POCT test pickup in the province, with appointments available for same day or next day pick up at all operational sites. Right now, we are seeing provincially 55-70 per cent of all appointments are used and our booking system ensures kits are available for everyone that visits the site. A single negative rapid antigen test result cannot reliably rule out infection and should not be used as a green light for abandoning or reducing precautions. Conversely, an individual with a positive rapid test result should be considered and managed as a case of COVID-19 and should follow the online guidance for testing positive."
The Department of Education didn't respond to an interview request.