School ventilation projects touted as part of COVID-19 fight preceded pandemic
CBC
Three completed school ventilation projects touted by the Manitoba government as part of its efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 had been planned before the pandemic began, a search of provincial records showed.
When asked last month what work was being done to improve ventilation in Manitoba schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, Education Minister Cliff Cullen pointed to 14 projects set to finish between this year and summer 2023.
Of those, three projects have already been completed, and a search of provincial requests for proposals showed that all had been planned before the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in the province.
The number of Manitoba schools set to get major ventilation upgrades over the next couple of years doesn't reflect the need many old buildings have and the threat posed by an increasingly airborne coronavirus, according to one medical microbiologist.
"I think prior to COVID-19, there just wasn't the same level of focus on the importance of ventilation in schools," said Philippe Lagace-Wiens, an assistant professor at U of M's department of medical microbiology and infectious diseases.
Since the start of the pandemic, much has been learned about how the coronavirus can be spread through aerosols indoors. Projects planned before the pandemic started might not meet current needs, Lagace-Wiens said.
"I think they probably do need to, at the very least, be reviewed for the new reality that we were dealing with as COVID-19."
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