B.C. officials announce return to in-class learning, order businesses to reactivate COVID safety plans

The B.C. government says thousands of students across the province will return to in-class learning Monday despite the risk that the highly-transmissible Omicron variant could significantly impact staffing in the weeks to come.

Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside joined Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry to make the announcement during a live news conference Friday.

Whiteside said there will be enhanced safety measures in place at schools including staggered break times, virtual assemblies, and visitor restrictions. She also said schools will have access to three-layered masks, despite calls from the B.C. Teachers Federation to distribute N95s instead.

"It is essential, and it is a priority for all of us, that we keep school's open," said Henry, after announcing she is ordering B.C. business owners to reactive COVID-19 safety plans.

Last week, the province announced a staggered return to school in January due to the spread of Omicron, and school administrators have been using this time to prepare contingency plans, including functional, phased closures.

On Jan. 5, Terri Mooring, the president of the B.C. Teachers Federation, said the union is greatly concerned Omicron will reduce staffing levels such that classrooms may not be able to function.

On Thursday, the province announced 324 people are now in hospital with COVID-19, including 90 in intensive care, as the province reported three more deaths from the disease.

As of Thursday, 24.2 per cent of COVID-19 tests in B.C. are coming back positive, according to the province's COVID-19 dashboard. 

Henry has said that anything above a five per cent test-positivity rate indicates a concerning level of community transmission.

A total of 3,223 new cases were also reported. But in the wake of the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which has caused testing capacity issues in B.C. — and in light of the decreased virulence of the variant for many who contract it — experts say daily case counts are now a less reliable statistic for understanding the pandemic.

The province has also been criticized for the lack of available rapid tests in B.C.

Health officials have faced calls to widely distribute the tests, which can be used at home and provide results in minutes, over the course of the pandemic and more acutely in the past week as Omicron quickly spreads.

With children expected to return to school next week, improved availability of such tests would be welcomed by educators and families alike.

Henry said Friday a supply is on the way from the federal government next week.