New Brunswick schools to welcome students back free of COVID protocols

New Brunswick kids are starting school restriction-free for the first time in two years.

Students start returning to class on Sept. 6, and back-to-school preparations can go back to how they were pre-COVID-19. 

There are no mask, distancing or cleaning mandates and no outbreak protocols, according to the Department of Education.

Students have already had a taste of what that's like last spring, after New Brunswick removed all COVID-19 restrictions in March.

The move had parents divided. Some were happy their children can go back to the regular school experience, while others continued to be concerned about their children catching COVID-19 in school and becoming sick. 

Since restrictions were lifted in March, the province has recorded thousands of positive tests each week.

Since March 28 this year, 89 people have died. A total of 447 people in New Brunswick have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic was declared in 2020.

In April, 19 New Brunswick pediatricians wrote an open letter to the government calling for the return of universal masking in schools and for preschool staff.

And as the 2022 fall semester approaches, parents, some with immunocompromised children, continue to be concerned.

But like Nova Scotia and other provinces, New Brunswick is taking the no-restriction route, encouraging people who want to wear a mask to do so.

Department of Education spokesperson Danielle Elliott said getting vaccinated and getting up-to-date boosters "is the most effective way you can avoid serious illness."

According to figures the department collected on July 19, 87.3 per cent of children aged 12 to 19 years had their first dose, while 81.9 per cent had their second dose. 

For children five to 11 years old, 56.7 per cent had their first dose, while 40.1 per cent have had their second dose.

Roughly 20.3 per cent of students aged 12 to 19 have had their third dose.