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POP BC Briefing: COVID-19, Children, and Schools

Schools fill an important role in our society. They are where our children spend a lot of their day for 10 months of the year, learning and socializing with their peers. Most BC children are back to in-person learning this year. However, the COVID-19 context is daunting this school year: case counts are consistently high in the community; the more transmissible and severe delta variant is circulating; and children under 12 are not able to be vaccinated yet.

What does the science say about COVID-19, children, and schools? What measures can we use to make these congregate settings safer so that in-person learning can continue to happen without disruption from COVID-19? How can we ensure that school buildings are safe enough to be inclusive of all children, including ones from families that are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to medical conditions?

Tune in to Protect our Province BC’s second briefing to hear more about this topic.

When: Wednesday, October 27

Time: 4:00 PDT

Where: ProtectBC.ca/Livestream

The second PoP BC event will include the following speakers:

  • Dr. James Heilman, Emergency Physician
  • Dr. Lyne Filiatrauly, Retired Emergency Physician
  • Michelle Naef, P.Eng, PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, in the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering, Safety and Risk Management
  • Elizabete Costa, parent, member of Safe Schools Coalition BC
  • Jennifer Heighton, teacher and education advocate; co-founder of Safe Schools Coalition BC

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
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