BCTF calls on province to step up COVID-19 measures in schools

With record case numbers being reported across the province, the BC Teachers’ Federation is calling on the provincial government to step up measures to protect and support educators and students come January.

In a series of tweets Thursday, the BCTF urges school districts and the province to change how COVID-19 is handled in schools.

“The Omicron variant has changed the pandemic. It’s more transmissible and has a shorter incubation. Safety measures in #bced schools must change too,” the union writes.

When #bced schools come back in January, teachers, support staff, and students need the employers (school districts) and #bcpoli government officials to step up and protect them and all the people we go home to. Here some actions they can take: 2/6

— BC Teachers’ Federation (@bctf) December 23, 2021

Noting thousands of students remain unvaccinated, the BCTF says now is the time for the province to act.

The union has listed a number of actions that can be taken once students return from winter break. Providing N95 masks to people who need or want them, ensuring masks are being worn in schools, implementing a rapid testing regime, and allowing districts to share more information on clusters and exposures are among the recommendations.

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The BCTF is also calling for school gathering sizes to be limited, meetings to move online, staggered start, lunch, recess, and end times, a ramping up of testing and vaccines during the winter break, and for “daily health assessment to recognize Omicron’s symptoms.”

Finally, the federation is urging districts to “address gaps in air ventilation,” saying there are still many schools where MERV-13s aren’t in place. Ventilation has been a long-standing issue in B.C. schools, with the push to address the issue once again gaining steam at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

The BCTF has throughout the pandemic continued to press for the province and districts to upgrade systems.

#BCed districts also need to address the gaps in air ventilation. There are still many school sites where MERV-13’s are not in place. Opening windows is not a real option in parts of the province that face bitter cold. #bcpoli 5/6

— BC Teachers’ Federation (@bctf) December 23, 2021

“Opening windows is not a real option in parts of the province that face bitter cold,” one tweet reads.

The union notes that if keeping B.C. schools is the province’s goal, more needs to be done and communication needs to be clear before the start of 2022.

B.C. has been administering vaccines to children as young as five at the end of November. As of Thursday, 87.7 per cent of eligible people in B.C. five and older had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 82.7 per cent had received two.

The federal government has said that it secured enough pediatric vaccines for kids over the age of five to get their first shot.