Experts call for the return of wearing a mask in class

While wearing a mask in class is reappearing in some schools, experts are calling for its return in order to counter the rise of the sixth wave of COVID-19, which is already well underway.

Since the return of spring break, at the beginning of March, the mask is no longer mandatory at all times, only when traveling around the school.

Over the past few days, however, several school principals have sent messages to parents recommending that their child wear the mask again in class, indicates the Quebec Federation of Education Establishment Directors.

“There are places where it hits faster than others,” says its president, Nicolas Prévost.

Some schools even go so far as to make it compulsory, as can be read in a message sent to the parents of students at Lucille-Teasdale International Secondary School in Brossard. The Marie-Victorin school service center indicates that the measure will be in place for about 10 days.

A widespread return?

Faced with the rise in cases observed in recent days, experts are pleading for a general return of masked faces on school benches.

“If we want to minimize the risk of contamination, yes we must bring the masks back to class. Children are not the most at risk of developing serious symptoms, but they can be vectors of transmission in their families and to more vulnerable people, ”says Roxane Borgès da Silva, professor at the School of Public Health in the University of Montreal.

Alain Lamarre, immunology specialist at INRS, also believes that this avenue should be considered. “If we have indications that show that there is a lot of contamination in schools, I think that indeed it would be an easy measure to reintroduce (…) and which could have a significant impact”, affirms- he.

Since the return to class in January, the absence rate of students and staff related to COVID-19 is the only indicator that gives an idea of ​​the presence of the virus in the school network.

According to the most recent data, which dates back to March 24, the absence rate is 1.2%, while it reached almost 5% at the end of January.

This is why Benoit Barbeau, professor of virology at UQAM, believes that it is still too early to consider a generalized return to wearing a mask in class.

“I don’t think it’s necessary right now,” he says, especially in classrooms with adequate ventilation.

According to the data collected by the C02 readers, which are now installed in three out of four classrooms, the air quality is satisfactory in 97% of the premises, where the weekly average is below 1500 ppm (parts per million) .

The Journal also spoke Thursday with the regional directors of public health of the North Shore, Bas-St-Laurent and Gaspésie, where the number of active cases is particularly high.

Even if they are concerned about the situation in their region, they do not go so far as to demand the return of wearing a mask in class, a decision that is up to Quebec, they specify.