In response to Dr. Reka Gustafson on @TheCurrentCBC, schools absolutely are having transmission, and as long as you refuse to acknowledge & test for asymptomatic spread, BC will never get tranmission under control. https://twitter.com/freespiritus/status/1334856722179969026

You said that everywhere Covid is able to surge, it is going to, and that we are having a surge right now in winter. To deny aerosol transmission is causing spread in schools and communities at this point when our communities are breaking daily records day after day is dangerous.

Thorncliff Public School is a perfect example of asymptomatic spread. Now at 26 cases, mostly children, these students are catching Covid at school and taking it into their communities/families. If we tested this in #FraserHealth, we potentially have an extreme # of cases.

Reports from around the world show actual statistics that at 14 days after schools re-opened the # of cases start to rise rapidly. Schools aren't a reflection of what is happening in our communities, our communities are a reflection of the transmission happening in our schools.

The Princeton University study, the largest contact tracing study in the world, has found that children & young adults are key to transmitting the virus. The WHO now recommends masks be worn indoors & poorly ventilated rooms, including classrooms.
Why not in #bced?

Cohorts of 60-120 in small spaces for 5 hours a day 5 days per week is the exact opposite of everything we are asked to do everywhere else. Handwashing is the only safety prevention in place, yet schools are running out of paper towel & soap. Many #bced classes have no sinks.

These cohorts don't live together. They return home to their families and communities. Their parents return to work, kids go to daycare and extracurricular activities. These cohorts don't stop transmission in classes and on the playground, between teachers, EA's and Admin staff.

In the end, you cannot claim low transmission in schools because unless you test everyone and know the full rate of asymptomatic spread, you are only basing your claims on half the story. Studies around the world are showing this to be true.

If schools are to remain open, we must make them priority #1 in safety. We need smaller class sizes, mandatory masks, better ventilation in every classroom, and distance ed options in every school district in #bced, and we need them now.

#BCTF @JM_Whiteside @jjhorgan @adriandix