“We were really surprised and disappointed to hear that mask mandates everywhere else is going to be lifted tomorrow.”
That was BC Teacher Federation President Teri Mooring’s reaction to Dr. Bonnie Henry’s announcement today (Thursday) that masking mandates are being lifted.
For most of the general population, masks will come off tomorrow (Friday), but the mandate won’t be lifted in schools until after the Spring Break.
Mooring said lifting the mandate for masking in schools after the Spring Break gives them time to prepare, it’s going to cause confusion.
“It’s going to leave schools scrambling today, to figure out how they are going to deal with the situation tomorrow,” Mooring said.
“It’s hard to understand this discrepancy, we were recommending that masks be lifted later in March, and at the same time so that this confusion would not be caused.”
Mooring says the Teacher’s Federation is still calling on School Districts to and the Provincial Government to supply N95 masks to students and staff who need or want to wear them.
“We don’t know who amongst us might have underlying medical conditions themselves, or have loved ones with underlying medical conditions, and that’s something that needs to be respected,” Mooring said.
“We don’t want to see this being a barrier to some students or teachers to continue to be at school.”
Mooring added they’re still concerned about low vaccination rates among the 5-11 age group, particularly in Northern Health.
She says they’re hoping for vaccine clinics to become more readily available.