The provincial government released their official guidelines on masking and case identification for school divisions on Friday.
The guidelines were part of a larger update on long-term plans to stop the spread of COVID-19. Students are set to return to school in roughly two weeks.
The biggest change involves vaccinations. Any student turning 12 in the current year is immediately eligible for vaccination. This means that individuals born in 2009 can now be vaccinated, at any COVID-19 vaccination site, regardless of their birth date, including pop-up clinics, participating pharmacies or upcoming school-based vaccination clinics.
They noted that at this time there are no COVID-19 vaccines approved for children under 12. All residents 12 and over are encouraged to be fully vaccinated to afford these groups the best circle of protection possible.
The guidelines also recommended that children under the age of 12, unvaccinated teachers, and unvaccinated support staff wear masks in common spaces such as hallways, washrooms, lunch rooms, libraries and school buses.
“Once students are seated in their classrooms, it is appropriate to remove masks. For outdoor activities such as recess or outdoor gym classes, there is no recommendation for students to mask. Once vaccines are approved and widely available to children under the age of 12, recommendations regarding masking and other measures in schools will be revisited to factor in increased immunity within the student population,” the release said.
The Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) and Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians (SCFP) issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on school boards to make masks mandatory in all indoor spaces, including classrooms and common areas, once students head back to school in the fall.
The two organizations also recommended full vaccinations for every student age 12 and over, and all staff, parents and guardians of school age children. Those recommendations are similar to ones made by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation on Tuesday.
“We are asking school divisions to enact measures that will mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in their schools, especially as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads in the province,” SMA president Dr. Eben Strydom said in a media release.
“We want students to return to schools and have a rich learning experience, but schools must be safe for that to happen. The safety of our children is of paramount concern.”
As was the practice last school year being when cases are identified in schools, schools and school divisions will continue to be notified by public health officials in order to inform students and parents.
Contact tracing will continue to occur, and unvaccinated close contacts may be directed to self-isolate as deemed appropriate by public health.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority will also offer school-based vaccination clinics similar to those offered at the end of the last school year.
These clinics will enhance vaccine accessibility for those students or staff who have not been vaccinated or who have only been vaccinated with a single dose.
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and Prince Albert Roman Catholic School Division are both expected to release their return to school plans next week.
