Schools and early care and education (ECE) programs are an important part of the infrastructure of communities. They provide safe, supportive learning environments for children and adolescents and employ teachers and other staff.1, 2 Schools and some ECE programs also provide critical services, including school meal programs and social, physical, behavioral, and mental health services.1, 3 Schools and ECE programs have other benefits for the community, including enabling parents, guardians, and caregivers to work.1, 2, 4 In the spring of 2020, kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12) schools and many ECE programs in the United States closed for in-person instruction or care as a strategy to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Reports suggest that the limited in-person instruction during the pandemic may have had a negative effect on learning for children5 and on the mental and emotional well-being of both parents and children.6, 7 For schools and ECE programs, the benefits of in-person school and caregiving need to be balanced against the risk of acquiring and spreading SARS-CoV-2 in these settings.
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CDC Science Brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs – Updated
Archived Briefings from Protect Our Province BC
As we start a new school year, clean air in schools is a vital issue not only because of the health effects from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and air pollution, but because of the direct link to the ability of children to learn. Hear about the new recommendations for Indoor Air Quality in Schools and Childcare Facilities from Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health.
“For some of the most vulnerable patients, the air in the hospital can be deadlier than the diagnosis that brought them in”
Join Protect our Province BC and Drs. Susan Lee, Jean Warneboldt, and Victor Leung to hear about their advocacy, their struggles and successes in improving the air quality in different BC Health Authorities. Why are different healthcare administrations within BC treating this critical topic so differently - in one, obstructing and blocking and in another rewarding and awarding?
In honor of February being Heart Month, cardiologist Dr. Leslie Kasza joined Protect our Province BC’s Dr. Susan Kuo for a discussion on COVID-19’s impact on heart health and how you can reduce your risk. Don’t be fooled into thinking it won’t happen to you because you are _________, fill in the blank: young, healthy vaccinated and/or you only had a mild infection, etc.
More News from Protect Our Province BC
No lessons were learned. This year, despite the lessons that could have been learned and implemented, BC public health was as ill prepared as it was last year for the viral "respiratory season”. * And so on January 9, a new record number of hospital admissions was set at 10,345 . For more up to… Continue reading State of Public Health in BC
Second in a series of two posts by an Alberta mom. Find the first post here: No One Is Listening To Me Image: The Rona Lisa by Rosie Pidgeon, a young Belfast art student living with Long Covid. To view her artwork, please visit @art_byrosie_ Alberta Long Covid Kids During the Delta wave in October… Continue reading No More Stolen Childhoods
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