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The Toronto District School Board has taken the latest advice of Ontario’s chief medical officer to heart and has asked all students and staff at its schools to go back to wearing masks inside to help limit the disruption caused by a sixth wave of COVID-19.
The provincial government did away with mask mandates in schools (as well as restaurants and retail stores) on March 21 amid warnings from public health experts that at least a few more weeks of restrictions were warranted.
Since then, wastewater testing, rising hospitalizations and workplace absenteeism have indicated a surge in COVID-19 infections.
“While the TDSB takes its direction from the province, which does not require masks, given the increase in COVID-19 cases and the high number of absences, we as a system are asking that all staff and students please wear a well-fitting mask when indoors in schools,” said the letter sent to parents on Wednesday.
“To be clear, this remains a personal decision,” it said. The correspondence was signed by TDSB director of education Colleen Russell-Rawlins and three of the board’s associate directors.
“Thank you for your consideration of this important measure,” they said. “We know that it is not where we expected or hoped to be, but our collective actions can make a difference.”
The request from Canada’s largest school board came two days after the first media briefing from Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s top medical civil servant, since early March. Moore acknowledged the province was in a sixth wave that would likely not settle down until mid-to-late May and encouraged the use of masks indoors.
Masks still must be worn on public transit and in high-risk settings, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, although all emergency orders related to COVID-19 are due to be lifted by April 27.
Morgan Sharp / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
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