The Saskatchewan Medical Association says its members and the Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians, want school divisions to reinstate public health measures including mandatory masking when students return to class next month.

SMA President Dr. Eben Strydom says, “We are asking school divisions to enact measures that will mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in their schools, especially as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads in the province.”

Dr. Strydom says physicians have a number of concerns as school divisions develop reopening plans and he notes that COVID-19 case numbers are rising with Saskatchewan having among the highest numbers of active cases and new cases per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan trails other provinces in vaccinations of people aged 12 and older, while children under 12 are not yet eligible.

Dr. Strydom, also a Melfort family physician, says in July 18 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan occurred in children under age 12.

For the web:
The SMA and the SCFP urge school division leaders to consider the following:
• Mandate the wearing of masks in all indoor spaces, including in classrooms and common areas. Revisit this mandate only when case numbers improve in their communities.
• Mandate full vaccination of everyone 12 and over, including students and staff, and parents or guardians of school-aged children, as recommended by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.
• Facilitate the establishment of mobile vaccination clinics in schools.
• Require all sick children and adults to stay home and get tested.
• Report positive cases to parents, or anyone who needs to know, as soon as possible, and have close contacts self-isolate.
• Make sanitizing dispensers widely available, and continue to practise hand-washing and sanitization.
• Maintain social distancing when possible, until case numbers subside.
• Clean and test HVAC systems regularly to ensure they are functioning properly.