Experts are hoping your kids will continue to wear masks in schools after March break.
The Nova Scotia Pediatric Pandemic Advisory Group has written an open letter strongly recommending students and staff keep wearing them.
“We recognize that this has been two years of anxiety, fear, and frustration for many Nova Scotians, including our children,” the letter says. “The lifting of mandated pandemic measures has been a welcome shift for many in our province. However, although case counts and hospitalizations are slowly declining, we acknowledge that they do remain high.”
The advisory group with the IWK children’s hospital says it would allow doctors to assess the impact of the move in other provinces.
They recommend keeping them on until mid-April, saying that would give them time to reassess.
The doctors also say the delay would allow them to further examine the new Omicron variant, comfortably open classroom windows as another layer of protection, and give kids more time to receive all recommended vaccinations.
“Schools, like hospitals, provide an essential service,” the advisory group argues. “We need our students and educational staff to be healthy and able to attend so that all can benefit.”
Other reasons they cite include high hospitalization numbers, staff shortages at hospitals, and evidence showing masks help to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“Masking and vaccination have been two of the cornerstones of the pandemic response that are well-proven to be effective in decreasing transmission and severity of COVID-19 infection,” the group says.
Nova Scotia will remove all of its pandemic restrictions on Monday.
