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.”

“We need to do everything we can to protect our children who cannot yet be vaccinated,” SCFP president Dr. Myles Deutscher added. “COVID-19 is affecting children and with the more dangerous variants and increasing long-term effects of COVID, it is more important than ever to protect this population.”

Both physicians said they were concerned about Saskatchewan’s low vaccination rate and the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The number of active cases dropped on Aug. 10 and Aug. 17, but has otherwise increased every day since Aug. 4.

Saskatchewan has reported an average of 122 new cases every day for the past week. That number was 43 when the province reopened on July 11.

“We now have a pandemic of the unvaccinated, yet children under 12 cannot receive their shots,” Dr. Strydom said.

Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division and the Prince Albert Catholic School Division have not released their back to school plans.

The Daily Herald was unable to get in touch with either school division by press time.