As New Brunswick navigates the first week in its revamped yellow phase, students are adjusting to some newly relaxed mask rules.
Previously, kids of all ages were required to mask up in common areas and at their desks unless working silently.
Now only high school students need to wear a mask at their desk, and that’s only if one metre of social distancing can’t be done.
Under the new yellow:
- Kindergarten to Grade 5 students are not required to wear masks in class – and they’re only “encouraged” in common areas and on buses.
- Students in grades 6 through 8 don’t need to wear them in class but do need to in common areas and on the bus if they’re not sitting with their household.
- High school students only need to wear them in classes where social distancing isn’t possible, and in common areas and on the bus when they’re not sitting with other members of their household.
Sarah Shannon, a mother from Boiestown, N.B., questions if the relaxed guidelines are too much too soon.
“I really think that since we just got into the yellow and cases have just started to go down, kids should still be wearing them,” she says.
Shannon says her four kids, in grades 4, 6, 9 and 12, will still wear masks in class.
She says that just makes sense to the family, considering the requirement to wear them in stores and restaurants.
“If you’re in a public place, which a school is, you’re required to wear a mask despite your age,” she says.
In a statement sent to Global News, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says the guidelines were developed in collaboration with Public Health and WorkSafeNB.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and update measures as needed,” writes spokesperson Flavio Nienow.
The department has a whole webpage dedicated to its return-to-school plan – an FAQ about mask use there hasn’t been updated since September and doesn’t address when a mask should be worn during the school day.
The site also doesn’t yet have a page reflecting the revamped yellow phase at all.
Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Dominic Cardy has said student-to-student transmission has been low – stating in late 2020 that there was no evidence of any.
Epidemiologists say that could be because, in most cases, they were wearing masks, with some saying parents like Shannon may have a point.
“I don’t think it’s a great idea,” says Susanne Gulliver, senior epidemiologist at NewLab Clinical Research in St. John’s, N.L.
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“With these new variants, we definitely need to make sure as many people are wearing masks as possible.”
Gulliver references a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on limiting spread in schools.
“They found that the unmasked activities are where the clusters were coming from,” she says.
“When the kids were wearing masks, you didn’t end up with the clusters in the schools.”
Both she and Shannon admit the younger a child is, the harder it can be to get a mask on them – and keep it on.
Gulliver, a mom herself, says if you can get one on, you should.
“It gets to a certain point when you’re looking at grade 5, 6 and into junior high that they are often capable.
“The kids who can, if they wear a mask they will be protecting the ones who can’t.”
The Department of Education says, at most times, a child can wear a mask should they choose to.
Shannon says her kids will be.
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