In Canada, no cases of the coronavirus have yet emerged in elementary or secondary schools, but the virus has still impacted the lives of students.
A number of school boards have cancelled class trips abroad and it’s certainly possible that a student, or teacher, could become infected at some point during this crisis.
Virus transmission in the school setting “is amplified” because young students are generally less compliant with effective hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette practices, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada‘s website.
Also, they socialize with each other in a way that is likely to increase transmission, the website said.
CBC News looks at the ramifications if a case of the novel coronavirus materializes in a school.
How have other jurisdictions internationally reacted to the virus with regards to schools?
A recent report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that schools have been closed in 13 countries to contain the spread of COVID-19, affecting more than 290 million students around the world.
“While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.
What about Canada?
There is no widespread transmission of the disease in Canada, so PHAC has not recommended the closures of Canadian schools.
Students arrived at the West Pender campus of University Canada West last week to find the doors locked. A notice explained that the building was being sanitized. A media release on its website said the move was a ‘proactive, precautionary’ measure after the school learned a student had a a presumptive case of the disease caused by a novel coronavirus. (Ken Leedham/CBC News)
A presumptive case of COVID-19 did prompt the closure of a business school in downtown Vancouver for at least three days while the building is disinfected, the school said Thursday.
And students from Sussex Regional High School in New Brunswick, who visited Italy this week, have been ordered to avoid returning to school for two weeks after their scheduled return home Saturday.
What’s likely to happen if a case emerges in a Canadian school?
At the very least, all students in class of an affected student or teacher would be self-quarantined at their homes, said Colin Furness, an assistant professor with the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information.
However, it’s also possible that the whole school would be closed and all students and staff tested, said Stephen Hoption Cann, a professor at the University of B.C.’s School of Population & Public Health.
“Any environment where there is a high density of individuals is conducive to the spread of the virus,” he said.
Who would make the call to close the school?
The decision to close an entire school would likely be a co-ordinated effort with local and provincial officials, school boards and health officials, Furness said.
What kind of problems can school closures lead to?
While closing a school would certainly interfere with students’ eduction, it would also have social and economic impacts.
PHAC acknowledged that a school closure would lead to significant consequences for certain groups, such as single parents and caregivers, children who participate in school-based nutrition programs, families who cannot afford increased child care costs, and parents without flexible work arrangements or paid leave benefits.
Could classes continue?
Remote learning is always a possibility. In Miami-Dade County, Fla., for example, the district has provided laptops, tablets and smartphones for some students to take home in preparation for any potential outbreak. It is also providing internet connectivity for some low-income students, the New York Times reported.
The University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia are developing contingency plans to hold lectures via video conference and administer exams remotely, the Globe and Mail reported.
Still, organizing the teaching of classes in elementary and secondary schools could be a challenge.
Is closing a school a good way to contain the virus?
In Japan, schools have been shutdown nationwide. But some experts are questioning the effectiveness of this strategy to contain the spread of coronavirus.
“As the largest groups of people the disease affects are in their 50s or 60s, closing elementary, middle and high schools doesn’t make much sense from a public health perspective,” Reiko Saito, a professor at Niigata University’s Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, said in an email to the Japan Times.
A report by the Centre for Global Development said that a review of 79 papers on school closures during influenza pandemics shows that there is no consistent effect of closing schools as a strategy to contain epidemics.
The CGD also said that if schools are closed, contact between children outside of school needs to be limited too. Otherwise, the benefits of school closure will be greatly reduced.
How long should a school be closed?
In 2012, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh looked at data from the 2009 H1N1 outbreak and its transmission to try to figure out the best amount of time for schools to close in the case of an outbreak.
A pedestrian wears a protective mask as she walks in the winter weather downtown in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. One expert says if schools are closed because of coronavirus, it’s imperative that young students do not socialize in other settings face to face. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
“What we found was the optimal timing is eight weeks from a disease transmission” standpoint, Tina Batra Hershey, an assistant professor in Pitt’s graduate school of public health, recently told the Baltimore Sun.
Opening schools too soon might leave students vulnerable to infection. But the same model might not follow for this outbreak, she told the Sun, and it should be left to local school systems to decide.
Would it ever make sense to close all schools across the country?
Furness said he believes that would “wildly inappropriate,” in part because of the economic cost.
“I think you need to do it locally where it’s emerging,” he said.
“I think if there is a case in Scarborough, I would close schools in that area, in that neighborhood, in that region. I don’t even think I would do that. I wouldn’t do the whole [Greater Toronto Area.]
“I would wait for a second case and then see where it’s spreading.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
