Head of Sask. teachers union calls for 'clear, consistent' COVID-19 measures in schools
One-third of all new COVID-19 cases are in children under age 12, Patrick Maze said
The provincial government should do more to keep schools and everyone in them safe from COVID-19, said Patrick Maze, the president of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation.
Contact tracing should be increased and students who come into close contact with someone with COVID should be forced to isolate, Maze said during a video news conference Wednesday.
"We need every measure available to us" to protect children and staff, Maze said.
School transmission cases are increasing, he said. And one-third of all new COVID-19 cases are in children under 12 years of age — a group currently too young to get vaccinated.
Contact tracing
Teachers are exhausted, fearful and burning out, he said, adding they're being forced to work as contact tracers on evenings and weekends.
"These teachers deserve better. Students and families deserve better," he said.
Maze said he appreciated the rules on mandatory masking and vaccines for staff, even though they came far too late.
Maze is calling on the government to reinstate the education "response planning team" to chart a safer course and share data.
"We need a logical, science-based, proactive plan," he said.
In addition, classrooms and schools with high numbers of cases should move to remote learning, even if it's only temporary, he said.