B.C.’s top doctor says having students back in classrooms ‘essential’ for health of children
Getting kids back to school is “essential,” says British Columbia’s top doctor as she and the education minister laid out plans for keeping students safe while COVID-19 infections surge.
The reopening of schools in B.C. was delayed until Jan. 10 to give public health officials a chance to assess the impact of the Omicron variant and allow educators to implement enhanced safety measures. “And I just want to reassure you, that the things that we have in place will do our best to mitigate any of the challenges we have,” she said.
“To help with effective information sharing, parents are encouraged to report rapid test results to public health and to ensure they contact the school if their child is staying home because of illness,” she said. The province is expecting a total of about 11 million rapid tests from the federal government to arrive this month.When the rapid tests arrive next week, they’ll be used on teachers and school staff who have symptoms, allowing them to stop outbreaks or getting people to go back to work, she said.