Close contacts in Sask. schools need to self-isolate, NDP says

The NDP’s education critic says there’s still time for the government to correct its approach to COVID-19 in schools and order close contacts to self-isolate.

Currently, when there are positive cases of COVID in schools, students who are close contacts do not need to self-isolate. If students are unvaccinated, they are allowed to attend class but cannot participate in extracurricular activities. Those who are vaccinated only have to monitor for symptoms.

“Public health experts laid out a plan prior to the school year that would keep kids in school (and) staff safe. This government again chose to ignore the science and chose not to listen to the experts,” Carla Beck said during a news conference Tuesday.

“This plan doesn’t just fly in the face of what the medical community has been telling this government for months. It is proving to be dangerous as we see children admitted to hospital and to the ICU.”

The NDP says more than 250 schools have reported positive cases in the last two weeks. By treating the school year like any other, the NDP says the government has left schools and school divisions to manage pandemic safety themselves, resulting in a “patchwork of responses.”

Beck suggested that parents could be given support to isolate with their children.

She also panned the public health order, saying children who are close contacts in a school setting do not need to self-isolate; when kids are close contacts outside of school, self-isolation is required.

“It doesn’t pass any test. It certainly doesn’t pass the medical expert test but I don’t think it passes the sniff test for anyone who’s looking for clarity in these rules,” she said.

The government has said the priority of its school plan was to keep students learning in person. Beck shares that goal but adds “wishing doesn’t make it so.”

She’s calling on the government to work with school divisions on requiring teachers and staff to provide proof of vaccination. As well, the government should support staff with testing and contact tracing.

A plan to inoculate children under 12 needs to be in place for when vaccines become available for them, she added.

“Anything less than this risks children losing another school year — kids who have already seen three school years disrupted by this government’s mismanagement,” she said.

Health minister’s silence noted

On Tuesday, the province recorded another 10 deaths due to COVID-19. Hospitalizations reached a record peak, at 311. Admissions to intensive care hit a new high at 65.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili said he was saddened by the deaths but also angry, pointing out that Health Minister Paul Merriman has not spoken publicly about the pandemic in more than a month.

“It’s an unbelievable abdication of duty. This is the minister of health. We’re in the biggest health crisis in the history of this province and he’s got nothing to say. He’s invisible,” Meili said.

“I was asked the other day if he should resign. It seems like he already has.”

Meili said the government needs to be open with the public about the state of the crisis. That would include a return to regular pandemic briefings.

He added the province is already late in communicating with the federal government on what human resources or equipment it needs to deal with the overburdened health-care system.

Also, Meili called on the government to release its “hidden modelling,” which is no longer being shared.

“Tell us what we’re about to face and tell us what the plan is if we don’t see these brutal numbers start to decrease very quickly,” he said.