Quebec’s elementary, high school students no longer required to wear masks in class
Posted March 7, 2022 9:22 am.
Last Updated March 11, 2022 10:08 am.
Quebec is taking its first step toward lifting mandatory masking Monday, starting with elementary and high school students across the province.
Students won’t be required to wear masks while seated in class as they make their way back to school after March Break.
#WATCH: Monday marked the return from march break for many Quebec elementary and high school students, but also the first day of not having to wear a mask in class in Montreal and other regions. pic.twitter.com/651rMsxaas
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) March 7, 2022
“I think there is a certain risk for viral transmission, and I think the masks are an extremely effective, low cost way to prevent transmission,” says epidemiologist and cardiologist, Dr. Christopher Labos. “Removing them at this point, I worry, is going to have a negative impact on our COVID situation without really giving us much benefit.”
“I still think it’s a little early,” says Donna Pittigilo, dropping off her granddaughter at school Monday. “It’s still going around and people are still getting the virus, so I think it would be more prudent in classes, because they’re so close together, to wait a bit.”
#WATCH: “I still think it's a little early,” says Donna Pittigilo, this morning as she dropped off her granddaughter to school. pic.twitter.com/MdZ5WWjN33
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) March 7, 2022
But the COVID-19 mask mandate still applies in common areas of elementary and high schools, while students are circulating and on school buses.
Quebec’s interim public health Luc Boileau has said that as early as next month, wearing masks could become a matter of personal choice rather than an obligation.
“I wont let [my son] take off his mask in class until I see everything is good,” says one mother outside Sinclair Laid Elementary School in Parc-Extension Monday. “If they are playing outside and social distancing, it’s okay, but you know the children, they always touch everything and touch their nose, so I don’t feel comfortable.”
“Parents are worried and that’s completely understandable,” says Michael Cohen, spokesperson for the English Montreal School Board. “You can send your child to school, you can can have them wear a mask and that is something that no one can take away.”
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Quebec public health says mask mandates could be lifted in most public places by mid-April at the latest.
“If we take off the mask, I don’t know what the result will be, but I think it’s important to have masks in the classrooms for now,” says parent Sufi Saeed.
“I think it’s very possible if you start removing COVID restrictions there, there may very well be a resurgence of cases, whether there’s a new variant or not,” says Dr. Labos.
“Masks are not completely disappearing,” says Cohen. “We will wait and see, and we check our numbers every week to see what they are, what’s happening, so we hope for the best.”
The provincial government had said it felt encouraged by the steady drop in COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations to move towards almost totally lifting mask mandates.
