Photo: Government of Alberta

By Chris Brown

CLEARING UP THE CONFUSION

Hinshaw clarifies order, says classroom distancing measures haven’t changed

Aug 31, 2020 | 5:32 PM

Dr. Deena Hinshaw is pushing back against claims she and the provincial government have reversed their stance on social distancing measures in schools just as in-person classes resume for the first time since March.

A health order signed on the weekend by Alberta’s chief medical officer of health states “an operator of a school does not need to ensure that students, staff members and visitors are able to maintain a minimum of two metres distance from every other person when students, staff or students are seated at a desk or table.”

Hinshaw says Order 33-2020 “codifies the guidance that has been online for weeks.”

“I must be clear that the order that was issued this weekend does not change our policy or my advice. Reports that indicate otherwise are not accurate” she said, emphasizing nothing has changed since the school re-entry plan was announced on Aug. 4.

At that time, the province announced masks were mandatory for students in Grade 4-12 and all school staff is mandatory. That applies to staff and teachers in all settings outside seated classroom instruction where physical distancing of two metres cannot be maintained. Students will be required to wear masks in all shared and common areas, including hallways and on school buses.

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The president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association says the order contradicts what the province has been saying for months.

Hinshaw also sought to clarify the order as it relates to physical distancing inside the classroom, saying that increasing the space between people decreases the risk of transmission.

“In schools, with respect to implementing the mask policy, we recognize that there could be impacts on communication and learning. And so in our policy announced in early August, and in our school guidance online, we have always stated that masking is not required when the following is met,” she said. “Specifically, where two metres is not possible between desks, the greatest possible spacing is in place and if two metres cannot be arranged between desks or tables, students should be arranged so they are not facing each other.

She added non-medical masks aren’t required while students are seated in the classroom if the above guidance is in place. She said masks should be used when close contact is occurring due to non-seated classroom activity.

“The intention is to allow students a break from mask-wearing in the classroom when they are seated and not facing each other and desks are spaced as widely apart as possible. This is not new.”

On in-school student cohorts, she said they should be limited to those in class together and kept small, and that teachers are not cohorted with each other.

She said teachers are not cohorted with each other and that the risk of adult-to-adult transmission between staff and in shared staff areas may be higher than student-to-staff transmission, particularly in lower grades with young children.

“A successful reopening of schools depends on the choices each of us makes every day that collectively keep our community transmission low,” she said.

Parents staying home and keeping children home when sick, quicker turnaround and contact tracing times, advance planning by school administration and everyone doing their best to adjust to the new normal and helping each other are also factors, she said.

(CHAT News Today)