26 Nova Scotia schools have at least one COVID-19 case
Stacey Rudderham says it's been a frustrating week, as she and other parents throughout the province raised their voices, calling on the province to release information on schools affected by COVID-19 for this school year.
Rudderham says it's information that's important for parents, staff, and the wider community.
"There are substitute teachers that are moving around from school to school that haven't been notified, there are other school specialists that share resources across multiple schools that haven't been notified," she says.
She's part of a volunteer group of concerned parents, Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education, that saw its Facebook membership grow by thousands after it started compiling its own list of COVID-19 notifications at schools.
In the wake of the resulting public pressure, the province began publishing its daily school update Tuesday – a list of schools with at least one COVID-19 exposure in the past 30 days, organized by notification date.
Twenty-six schools are on the list, including schools in the CSAP and Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education -- but most of the schools are in the HRCE.
Five schools on the list are now practicing what the province calls "enhanced public health measures," which include:
- closing to non-essential visitors
- limiting extra-curricular activities
- minimizing movement within the school and among classes
- enhanced cleaning evenings and weekends.
But for parent Roxy Webb, the situation is, "still alarming."
Her daughter attends Charles P Allen High School in Bedford and received notification of a COVID-19 exposure at the school this past Sunday. She says the exposure dates included the previous week of school, during which her daughter had attended classes.
Webb says her daughter is fully vaccinated, but the exposure notification is still worrying.
This year, the province's back to school plan doesn't include closing schools for deep cleaning or contact tracing, while schools in other Maritime provinces have done so this fall.
Webb says her child would feel better if Nova Scotia did the same.
"Especially for somebody who does have anxiety and she didn't really want to return to school."
"That two-day approach really created a sense of trust and confidence," says the head of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, Paul Wozney.
Wozney says bringing that back would help alleviate some of the anxiety. He says because there are many students too young to be vaccinated, keeping certain precautions in place is prudent.
"It just makes sense for us to treat schools as a distinct population and to have a set of protections for them, until such time as we can achieve the kind of vaccination that we can have in the general population," he says.
Since the fourth wave began, 123 of the 673 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province have been among individuals under 12 years old, according to the province.
That's one reason Stacey Rudderham would like the masking protocol to remain in place. She would also like to see increased asymptomatic testing in the province, to catch more cases.
"I just don't think that we're really in a position to move to Phase Five," she says.
The province is scheduled to provide an update on Nova Scotia's reopening plan at a news conference Wednesday at 3 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Case against ex-Mountie charged with helping China can go ahead in Quebec, judge says
A Quebec court judge has ruled that the case against a former RCMP officer charged with helping China conduct foreign interference can go ahead in the province.
Steve Albini, legendary producer for Nirvana, the Pixies and an alternative rock pioneer, dies at 61
Steve Albini, an alternative rock pioneer and legendary producer who shaped the musical landscape through his work with Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey and more, has died. He was 61.
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, will plead guilty in betting case
The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud in a sports betting case in which prosecutors allege he stole nearly US$17 million from the Japanese baseball player to pay off debts, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.