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While there are a few lingering public health restrictions that will be in place for the first little while, such as requiring masks while riding buses, students and staff can expect a return to semi-normal in the 2021-2022 school year.
On Aug. 13, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange reported that in-person classes will go ahead as planned this September, and there will be no other restrictions on extracurricular activities like school sports.
“I am very much looking forward to a normal school experience this fall and I know many, many Alberta parents and students who are also looking forward to it,” said LaGrange.
Friday’s news conference was initially focused on Hinshaw’s announcement that the province will delay lifting Alberta’s remaining public health requirements, which was supposed to occur on Aug. 16.
On Monday, all provincial mandatory masking orders were supposed to be lifted and individuals would no longer be required to isolate following a positive COVID-19 test.
However, Hinshaw indicated on Friday that the situation had changed due to two emerging trends: a higher-than-expected number of COVID hospitalizations in Alberta (146 versus a projected total of 90), and new data from the U.S. regarding pediatric cases of COVID-19 associated with the Delta variant.
Hinshaw said their original plan had been based on UK data, where children under the age of 15 are at the lowest risk for infection. However, Alberta’s rate of vaccination is a little behind the UK, though still higher than U.S. states where the Delta variant is running rampant.
As such, Hinshaw announced that until Sept. 27, Albertans who test positive or demonstrate symptoms of COVID-19 will still be legally required to isolate, and mask requirements for buses, taxis, ride shares and so on will remain in effect.
Symptomatic testing for those who suspect they have the virus will also continue to be available at assessment centres by self-referral.
“We are not going backwards. We are pausing to monitor and assess before taking the next step forwards,” said Hinshaw, who also apologized for any distress she caused for the way she communicated these changes.
School measures
LaGrange said that school authorities had been provided some initial guidance in June regarding possible health measures so they could start planning for the 2021-2022 school year.
However, they were promised that further guidance would be coming in mid-August, which was the secondary purpose of Friday’s announcement.
Hinshaw said that health and education officials know the public health measures that were necessary in 2020-2021 to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, such as the temporary closure of schools, the quarantining of whole classes and the cancellation of extracurricular activities, have been associated with a deterioration in the mental health of youth.
“Many children have reported increased feelings of social isolation, depression and anxiety,” she said. “It is important to keep the negative impacts of these measures in mind, particularly when looking at a population that is at lower risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19.”
Hinshaw pointed out that in 2020, eight times as many children and youth were hospitalized for anxiety disorders than for COVID-19, and there have been no COVID-related deaths among children in Alberta.
That’s not to dismiss those local instances where families did have a child become sick from COVID-19, Hinshaw noted, adding she would not wish that experience on any family.
“And yet, I also know that we cannot prevent every health risk for our children. In fact, sometimes when we take action to avoid one risk, we increase risk in other areas,” she said.
With that in mind, Hinshaw said that masks will not be universally required in schools, though students will still need to wear them on schoolbuses until at least Sept. 27.
Other measures, such as distancing and cohorting, will also not be required in Alberta schools. (However, local school authorities will have the ability to implement such measures if they feel it is necessary.)
As well, starting on Sept. 7, immunizations will be available for Grade 7-12 students and teachers via temporary clinics set up in schools.
Hinshaw noted that only about half of Alberta youth between the ages of 12 to 19 are fully vaccinated.
“Providing vaccines through schools ensure that vaccines will be accessible to all school-aged Albertans in the province,” she said.
Up until Sept. 27, daily screening for symptoms of COVID-19 will also be required of all students and staff, and anyone testing positive or showing symptoms of will be required to isolate.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) will also be in contact with schools to address any outbreaks that may occur in certain areas.
LaGrange added that while schools will not have to deal with the same measures imposed in 2020-2021, they will still have to follow some common-sense health practices around hand-washing and hygiene.
On the subject of funding, LaGrange indicated that during the pandemic, school boards were able to increase their reserve levels from $360 million to reportedly more than $400 million.
That said, the Alberta government will still provide $130 million in COVID mitigation funding for school authorities to use as they see fit, as well as $45 million for intensive small group literacy and numeracy programming to assist Grade 1-3 students.
