Expert group urges N.S. students to continue mask use at school

An expert group from the IWK Health Centre is calling for masking to continue in Nova Scotia schools even after it is no longer required.

The province is lifting most COVID-19 public health restrictions, like masks and social distancing, on Monday. Public schools fall under this change, so masks won't be required when students come back to school after March break next week.

But the hospital's pediatric pandemic advisory group of doctors said Thursday it recommends that students continue to wear masks until at least mid-April.

"Schools, like hospitals, provide an essential service. We need our students and educational staff to be healthy and able to attend so that all can benefit," their open letter said.

The group said continuing the use of masks keeps virus transmission down and protects essential workers, including parents who work in health care.

It's important to keep masking because the numbers of people in hospital with the virus are still high, and the adult system is over capacity, it said. 

As of March 8, the number of people getting treatment in a specialized COVID-19 unit had risen to 50 from 45 four days earlier. The total number of people in hospital who tested positive for COVID-19 was not released on March 8, but it totalled 320 on March 4.

The province is expected to issue its latest weekly COVID-19 data report sometime later today.

The group added the vaccination rate for children ages five to 11 is still less than 80 per cent, so waiting a few weeks allows for more needles in arms.

This step allows time to see what happens with other province's lifting school mask mandates, and the impact of lifting Nova Scotia restrictions, the group said.

Whatever people decide, the group said "it is important to ensure that students are not bullied about whether they do or do not wear a mask. Discuss this with your children. Be kind to one another, and tough on the virus."

Dr. Lisa Barrett, one of Nova Scotia's foremost experts on infectious diseases and vaccines, also recently said she has yet to see evidence that making masks voluntary is a good idea.

She said cases have increased in many countries around the world after the removal of precautions.

Others are also questioning the province's decision to now limit public COVID-19 data to weekly reports, which contain much less information.