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Thread: So back to school go Alberta kids in four days. What does that mean? 1/9
There is still quite a bit of debate as to how much in-person school attendance affects community transmission. Nevertheless our kids our going back so lets talk about how to make this as safe as possible. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coronavirus-r-rate-school-closures-lockdown-lancet-study-b1251617.html 2/9
Worth recognizing that ON decided against opening in-person schooling today. Take at look at our equivalent hospitalization rates and cases/100000. So there is definitely no one answer. 3/9
Our group @masks4canada has always said that during this break we should ensure that we should use this break from in-person schooling to COVID-proof our schools. I'm worried this has not happened. But we can start now. https://twitter.com/jvipondmd/status/1339978716965814272?s=20 4/9
To start, AHS and the @CMOH_Alberta have now acknowledged the importance of airborne transmission of the virus. All school boards should read this document and implement ventilation and filtration measures to mitigate transmission. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/ppih/if-ppih-covid-19-school-indoor-air-quality-covid-faq.pdf 5/9
We should be making every effort for each classroom to have a formal ventilation assessment. A minimum of 3 air exchanges per hour would mitigate transmission.Ventilation upgrades and/or filtration installations should occur if this standard is not met. https://qz.com/1907977/how-to-check-air-ventilation-to-prevent-covid-19-spread/ 6/9
Additionally, we need to have mandatory masking for all students at all levels at all times. Current recommendations still only state this has to be done in common areas such as hallways and cafeterias, but not when seated in classrooms. 7/9
And there are still situations of very crowded classrooms. We need maximum class sizes, based on m2 of each room. Use additional vacant spaces (churches, community assocs, etc) if there is not enough room in individual schools. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-class-size-data-2020-covid-19-back-to-school-1.5682575 8/9
Finally, get the kids outside! Lunches in particular. But what a great year to do some incredible outdoor learning. Experience Alberta's gloriously clean air and landscapes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/us/outdoor-classroom-design.html fin/9
Addendum: with the UK variant having a much higher transmissibility rate, when (not if) it starts making its way around AB all these measures will become much more important. #anticipatenotreact https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1346899021621813249?s=20
