Students return to class in Manitoba and Saskatchewan amid pandemic

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2020 (2167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students return to class in Manitoba and Saskatchewan today, and the differences this year due to COVID-19 begin with how they will arrive at school.

Parents in both provinces are encouraged to transport their children to school if they can, and in Saskatchewan children who ride the school bus may be assigned seats and a partition may separate the kids from the driver.

As far as mask wearing, Saskatchewan says it’s up to school boards to decide whether to make them mandatory, although the chief medical health officer advises Grade 4 to 12 students should wear them in busy areas such as hallways and on buses.

Manitoba, meanwhile, requires masks for grades 5 to 12 when physical distancing isn’t possible, and they will be required on the bus.

But kids in the Winnipeg School Division may not be able to ride the bus on their first day back, since the union representing the drivers have been preparing for a strike that’s to begin today.

The union and the school division have been bargaining since October 2019 after the drivers’ contracts expired in June of last year, and a spokeswoman for the division said late Monday there had been no movement on negotiations.

Students in Saskatchewan were originally scheduled to return to school as early as Sept. 1, but the province pushed back the date last month, explaining it wanted to give teachers and school staff a bit more time to prepare for a safe return.

Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, has also encouraged people to reduce their contacts as summer draws to a close and schools prepare to reopen.

Manitoba has said that if health officials confirm a positive case in a school, contact tracing is to begin within 24 hours. Close contacts of a student will be advised to self-isolate and whether testing is necessary.

Health officials are also to inform the school and other parents will be notified if there was a risk the child was infectious inside the classroom.

Students in both provinces are being discouraged from venturing outside cohort groups in order to minimize contact with others.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2020.