A group of New Brunswick pediatricians is calling on the province to reinstate mask mandates in schools and for childcare staff because the doctors say we are not “out of the woods yet with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The 19 pediatricians issued an open letter on Monday, writing that masking is “not only the most responsible course of action, it is also consistent with measures in the other three Atlantic provinces.”
New Brunswick did away with masks in schools on March 14 — the same day the province lifted all COVID-19 restrictions.
However, the pediatricians pointed out in their letter that the governments of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island have all decided to continue to require masks in schools.
“We recently have seen lifting of COVID-19 protective measures, however cases and hospitalizations remain high. Ongoing staff shortages in healthcare and education settings are causing significant disruption in services,” the letter read.
“Given the importance of school for child development and well-being, we strongly recommend returning to continuous mask use indoors for the rest of the academic year, so that students and staff can remain health and attend.”
The letter went on to say that since the preschool population is not eligible for vaccination yet, the doctors recommend masking indoors for childcare staff.
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These measures, the pediatricians said, would allow more time to improve vaccination rates in the age five to 11 age group and “stabilize the healthcare and education workplace attendance.”
“In addition to protecting children, many healthcare and education workers are parents, and this will help moderate the number of workers off due to infection or exposure,” the letter read.
The open letter comes a week after the education minister publicly invited experts to speak up, and reiterated that COVID-19 restrictions have always been under the direction of Public Health.
“Our decisions around masking and other measures in schools have been exclusively provided to use by Public Health and implemented on that basis,” Dominic Cardy told reporters last Wednesday.
“If public health chooses to make additional recommendations to government, I can tell you that I’ll happily support those measures because I suspect they’ll be based on science and I’m here to support science and evidence under all circumstances.”
Global News has reached out to Public Health and the Department of Education for a response.
— More to come
Demand for COVID-19 vaccines in N.B. Slowing down – Mar 27, 2022
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