New Brunswick’s child and youth advocate is recommending the government reinstate mask mandates in schools — at least for now.
“We received a number of public concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 in schools following the lifting of most pandemic measures,” said Kelly Lamrock. “We initially reached out to the chief medical officer of health and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in hopes that we could get clarity on the process of, and reasons for, the decision so as to inform the public. Following our inquiry, we had a number of concerns regarding the decision and advised the departments.”
Among the concerns cited by the advocate was a blurred responsibility for the decision.
Lamrock said Public Health should revisit the lifting of mask mandates and other measures in schools.
“What we did find is, that both education and public health have the statutory ability to implement a mask rule in schools… Most have made their public explanations as to why they haven’t. To the public health decision, we said well, there are some mismatches there. If masks work, then why not recommend it? Their answer is because vaccines work better. Why not both? And if the answer is, you’re fine as long as you have a vaccination rate, why have we moved from the vaccination rates of five- to 11-year-olds still under 40%? What is the countervailing harm of another month of masks? We didn’t see that particular evidence.”
The report also notes that New Brunswick could align its policy with Nova Scotia, which has mask mandates in place until May 21st and then review decisions at that point.
“It is not our intention to make a permanent determination regarding mask mandates. We do not believe that in an expedited three-week review, the Advocate could or should take on the role of being the final Arbiter of public health records. What we can say is that children deserve a decision which explicitly considers their rights and needs, reports on each of those with clear and relevant factual findings by the right experts and is communicated with clarity and accountability by someone who is answerable for the results,” says Lamrock in the report.
“We are not yet satisfied that New Brunswick children have been given such a decision. As such, we are recommending that the government revert to the status quo that existed when the flawed decision to lift the mandate was made, and then work expeditiously to make a final decision that is properly researched, balanced, communicated and implemented.”
Other recommendations included in the report included:
- The departments of Health and Education and Early Childhood Development should co-ordinate and issue clear protocols for school leaders regarding when a student must test, report and/or absent themselves from school due to exposure, symptoms or a positive test.
- The departments of Health and Education and Early Childhood Development should co-ordinate and issue a plan to make appropriate rapid tests available to schools.
- Public Health, in consultation with Education and Early Childhood Development, should clarify the health and pedagogical indicators it will be tracking to judge the impact of the removal of the mask mandate and elaborate clearly on what benchmarks would lead to a review of the decision.
- Public Health should factor into its recommendations the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on youth.
- Public Health and Education and Early Childhood Development should develop a strategy, backed up with regulation, if necessary, to increase the low vaccination rate of children aged 5-11.
“There are legitimate reasons to consider lifting mask mandates, and we support Public Health leading that decision,” said Lamrock. “However, children deserve a decision which considers their rights and needs, with clear and relevant factual findings, which need to be communicated with clarity and accountability. We should be as vigilant in monitoring the lifting of mandates as we were at the start.”
Education minister’s response
The province’s education minister says he will not be the one to reinstate masks in schools.
Speaking to reporters Friday afternoon, Dominic Cardy said that decision rests with Public Health.
“I am not going to be the minister who makes decisions based on media pressure, public pressure, or random voices from the internet,” said Cardy.
“I’m going to follow the advice from the Public Health team, whose job is to advise government on areas and concerns around public health.”
New Brunswick is currently the only Atlantic province that is not requiring masks in schools.
Cardy said what other provinces are doing “is of absolutely no concern to me at all,” adding he will continue taking advice from public health experts.
The education minister was also asked about the concerns raised by the child and youth advocate over the decision process to remove COVID measures from schools.
“Without breaking cabinet confidence, I can certainly say that we had evidence presented to us to support the decisions that Public Health recommended and that were adopted. Beyond that, I can’t get into the quality of that work.”
A joint statement from Cardy and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard explained why the province decided to remove mask mandates in March.
“The province’s overall high vaccination rate for those most likely to be hospitalized with 96.6% of the 50+ population fully vaccinated, and 76.8% of this same population having received a booster dose, along with low hospitalization rates among youth, contributed to Public Health’s decision to remove mask mandates for the public, and for those in New Brunswick’s school system,” said the statement.
“Vaccinating our children is the single best way to reduce transmission and allow children to learn in a healthy and safe environment. We strongly encourage families to ensure students are up-to-date with their vaccinations.”
