We should know more this week about the local plans when it comes to sending kids back to school.
With just three weeks before the bell sounds again, Chatham-Kent’s Medical Officer Dr. David Colby says talks have begun with local boards to ensure the health and safety of students and staff.
“We have regular electronic meetings with school board representatives and both public health units, Lambton and Chatham-Kent,” Dr. Colby says.
The first official meeting to discuss safety protocols in school was held late last week with kids heading back to the classroom on Tuesday, September 7th.
Colby says while vaccination will be key for older students, they’ll be using lessons learned from classroom health and safety protocols to guide them through this year as well.
“We did see a fair bit of in-class learning last year, and a lot of careful monitoring and screening and case and contact isolation, cohorting and so forth, and we were able to manage that. I expect that’s the way that’s going to continue.”
On Monday, the province announced it is working with public health units and publicly funded school boards to plan and host vaccination clinics in or nearby schools to continue to fight COVID-19. Clinics are expected to run before school starts and during the first few weeks of school.
“We have made tremendous progress getting students, staff and their families vaccinated – they are critical to protecting schools and keeping our communities safe,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. “As part of the last mile campaign to reach as many students and staff as possible and to keep schools as safe as possible, we are requiring school boards and public health units to roll out clinics in or close to schools. By making vaccines more accessible, and with a cautious reopening in September following the expert advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, we will further bolster our fight against COVID-19 and variants.”