Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange (Gov't. of Alberta live stream)

By Troy Gillard

where physical distancing cannot be maintained...

Alberta makes masks mandatory for Grade 4-12 students, staff

Aug 4, 2020 | 9:32 AM

EDMONTON – Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange has announced that mask wearing will be mandatory for all Grade 4-12 students in the province, as well as school staff and bus drivers, when classes resume this fall to help prevent COVID-19 spread. Mask wearing will remain optional for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

“After continuing to work with Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s team and Alberta Health, emerging evidence has made it clear that masks can play an important role in limiting the spread of COVID-19 in our schools,” said LaGrange said Tuesday.

The provincial government will be providing all students and staff in public, separate, Francophone, charter and independent schools with two reusable masks – a total of more than 1.6 million masks to 740,000 students and 90,000 staff. Additional single-use masks will be available at schools, if required, the province says.

Mask use will be mandatory for staff and teachers in all settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Students will be required to wear them in all shared and common areas such as hallways and on buses. Exemptions will be made for students and staff who are unable to wear a mask due to medical or other needs.

The province says mask use for K-3 students is remaining optional because of difficulties with proper fit and compliance, and because there is evidence that shows children under 10 may be less likely than older children or adults to transmit COVID-19.

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“After reviewing the emerging evidence, it is clear that masks can play an important role in limiting the spread of COVID-19. I am not making this updated recommendation lightly, but acting on the best current evidence available,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health. “While masks are important, I want to stress that they are only one of the many public health measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of students, staff and families.”

Hinshaw said Alberta’s mask requirement is similar to measures announced in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

School staff will receive one reusable face shield for their use in the schools. The province says shield use will be at the discretion of the individual staff member as plastic face shields can help reduce exposure but are not equivalent to masks. A mask must still be worn while wearing a face shield.

About 466,000 litres of hand sanitizer will be distributed between all school authorities.

Each school will also receive two contactless thermometers to assist with managing student and staff health, the province says. Thermometer use will be at the discretion of the school authority.

All supplies will be distributed to school authorities by the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

The province announced on July 21 that Alberta students will be back in classrooms to start the next school year under “near normal conditions” with additional health and cleaning measures in place to help prevent spread of COVID-19.

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services are also working to expand testing capacity and reduce turnaround times for testing, including in-school staff, teachers and students, so that anyone with symptoms or close contacts of cases can be rapidly tested and receive test results promptly.

The government says provincial health guidance for a safe return to school will continue to evolve as necessary to reflect the latest evidence on the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(With file from Government of Alberta media release)