3/ In Aug, the MofEd outlined safety plan in a court of law (parent court case) and argued that: 1. Masks hinder learning 2. If masks were required in schools then students would feel safe & might not stay away from school if they felt sick.
5/ Even the brochure does not provide reference to the mask science she was referencing.
Mental Health and a survey from Spring also factored in.
The judge would not allow the complainant any scientific articles that came after August. Yet, the brochure is dated September.
6/ Here is a whole lot of evidence that:
✅masks save lives.
✅they can provide up to 70% protection if everyone wears them
✅they protect from asymptomatic spread
✅They stop people from touching their face and nose
✅They do not hinder learning
9/ Because of this acknowledgment — @WorkSafeBC should have automatically adjusted guidance for schools when all other employers were forced to re-do their safety plans.
Schools are not exempt in WorkSafe guidance for infectious disease. #bced
10/ There are plenty of recent peer reviewed studies that show that:
✳️Children are often asymptomatic, masks needed for protection.
✳️Children transmit as much as adults.
✳️ Schools can drive infections when community spread is high (like BC). Over 30%.
✳️Children infect adults.
12/ The fact that BC is the only jurisdiction in Canada that is not requiring masks in classrooms is evidence of gross negligence.
All other countries in the world, that did not require masks, have moved schools online. Every jurisdiction in the world requires masks in classes.
13/
The fact that the Parent Court case’s ruling states that the mask policy is the Ministry of Education’s policy, that the PHO is pretty good evidence that politics is at play here.
14/ Since December, the CDC & PHAC changed their guidance for schools with regard to masks, ventilation, distancing and class size.
Trustees and SDs have a fiduciary duty to protect employees & do timely due diligence.
15/ The fact that the @CDCofBC and the Ministry continue to put children & #bced staff into what the CDC deems the highest risk scenario without proper precautions—masks in classes, improved ventilation, smaller class sizes, 2 m distancing is gross negligence.
16/ The very conditions that Dr. Henry described for there to be airborne transmission, are the very same that exist in schools on a daily basis.
30 students & a Teacher, in a poorly ventilated enclosed space for over 5 hours.
Not providing more protections is negligence.
17/ In the Ministry of Education’s own handbook, it states it must meet or exceed WorkSafeBC’s expectations.
Superintendents who continue to say that they will be liable if the do not follow guidance, will be found negligent.
18/ Especially when @WorkSafeBC states that school Districts are able to mandate masks.
19/ And the Ministry also says that School Districts can mandate masks.
20/ School Districts are also Service Businesses since they incorporate to recruit int’l students to come to district.
Under the mask law, service businesses are required to mandate masks & protect their customers/staff. #bced staff work with int’l students in K-12 schools.
21/ The fact that Independent Schools have been mandating masks in their schools shows that:
❇️Masks do not hinder learning &
❇️They do not cause harm.
Not providing public schools with the same precautions, when there are variants circulating is another example of negligence.
23/ Here is Fraser Health’s notification that students and staff may have been exposed to a variant at school.
The South African variant makes the vaccine 6x less efficacious. #bced staff & students need protections.
24/ Fact that BC is doing lowest testing in Canada could also be construed as negligence.
The @CDCofBC’s policy to isolate rather than test will mean greater risk of MIS-C for students as it is a post-viral disease. If parents aren’t aware child infection, won’t look for MIS-C.
25/ The fact that BC is not aggressively trying to test trace and isolate all cases is negligent as it violates Section 7 of the charter and the Proportionality section of the Oakes test. #bced
26/ There are no PHO orders that state that School Districts or PHO cannot mandate masks. Only Orders are enforceable by law. Guidance are suggestions.
28/ We also have Operational Negligence, which deals with governance and duty of care. This is not so cut and dry due to the fact the Supreme Court of Canada has taken leave to hear a case from BC in the near future. mondaq.com/canada/profess…
29/ Then there is the SARS Commission findings that are not being practiced in British Columbia:
32/ Here is the warning at the end of the only study the @CDCofBC provided parents and Teachers to justify their #bced plan. The @bctf has not said one word of criticism. #bced
1/ I find it gobsmacking that there are journalists that can’t seem to comprehend that BC is deliberately under testing so the @bcndp can say our numbers are low— go out & shop.
The numbers testing positive are deliberately low, but there are thousands in BC with COVID. #bcpoli
2/ BC’s dashboard has claimed that we were in the 400 to 600 range for the past week.
The University of Washington projections say that we should have approx. 4266 positive cases in BC.
That means there are thousands of BCians who are positive and don’t know it. #bcpoli
In terms of projected deaths — we are doing worse than Ontario, which has 3 times the population of BC.
Meaning BC would have 51 daily deaths if we had the same population as Ontario.
BC is becoming famous for categorizing what should be COVID deaths as Excess Deaths.
At the last press conference Dr. Henry described an aerosolized virus but did not call it one. Why?
CDC says the main way COVID-19 infects is through aerosols.
The #bced plan has no protections for an aerosolized virus.
Soap & hand sanitizer do not protect against aerosols.
2/
-Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec & Nova Scotia all have mask mandates in classrooms.
-WHO, CDC & Health Canada all recommend masks in classrooms.
-There is no scientific, logical or moral reason why masks are not mandated in #bced classrooms.
-Only 1 questionable reason.
3/ -Students are not required to social distance at school, it is recommended.
-Masks are NOT required in classrooms.
-Most Sec students in FH have 2 classes that are 2.5 hours in length.
-Many classrooms with 30 desks do not allow for 1 meter of distancing between desks. #bced
All public places have a mask mandate, except schools. Masks are required in hallways but not classroom. Classes are 2.5 hrs. Students eat in hallways with no masks. 30 in classes.
@yaneerbaryam@CovidActionGrp@JoeBiden@usatodayopinion 2/ Physical distancing is recommended not required. Classes are so full, not able to distance. Cohorts in Secondary are 120. Only layer of protection is hand sanitizer, & washing hands. Guidance doesn’t recognize virus is aerosolized.Won’t give data on student/teacher infections.
@yaneerbaryam@CovidActionGrp@JoeBiden@usatodayopinion 3/ Classes have multiple students infected but if students say they are friends outside of school, it is categorized as a community transmission, to keep school transmission low.They changed the definition of an outbreak, so it’s virtually impossible for it to be labeled as such.
1/ This is the section of the LRB that the @bctf needs to enact in order to protect #bced.
Some claim they cannot do it as members have not created motions to do so; however, the Executive decided to go to the LRB unilaterally in Sept and without motions. They can do it again.
2/ There is a threshold that they need to prove is being met so that they can withdraw services and it not be considered a strike.
There are loads of ways they can do provide the evidence.
✅Survey staff and collect data about working conditions.
✅Challenge the science — the WHO, CDC, & Health Canada all recognize COVID is aerosolized but @CDCofBC his not changed it’s guidance for #bced. All other business were required to update their plans to include masks.