K-12 students in N.L. are back in school after three weeks of learning from home

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

Newfoundland and Labrador students in kindergarten through Grade 12 packed their book bags and headed to school Tuesday for the first time since the holiday break began in December.

The provincial government announced last week their intention to resume in-class learning, citing the importance of school for students' mental and physical well-being.

Students in the province have been learning remotely since Jan. 4, when the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus was still driving daily case counts skyward. Students were required to take two rapid COVID-19 tests before heading back to school -- one on Saturday, and one Tuesday morning, before classes began.

Officials reported 296 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, compared with 493 on Jan. 4, but the latest case count does not include those who may be sick but don't qualify for a test.

In a news release, officials said 20 people in the province were in hospital on Tuesday due to COVID-19, with five of those patients receiving critical care.

As of Friday, over 76 per cent of children in the province aged five to 11 had received one dose of a vaccine. Appointments for second doses for children in that age group opened up late last week.

One St. John's parent, Sobia Shaikh, has decided to keep her 10-year-old at home until two weeks after their second dose of a vaccine, when they're considered fully vaccinated. That won't be until the first week of February, Shaikh said.

"I feel dropped and then kicked," she said in an interview Tuesday. "I'm immunocompromised, so I'm actually very worried about getting (COVID-19)." She said she would have preferred officials wait at least two more weeks to reopen schools so more children could be fully vaccinated. A hybrid model allowing students to continue learning online if they or their parents wished would also have been helpful, she said.

Shaikh said the main messaging from health officials seems to have changed with the arrival of the Omicron variant. It used to be about following public health advice to mitigate risk, she said. But earlier this month, the province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, said the variant is so contagious, it's likely most people in the province will get it, and public health had to make sure that didn't happen all at once.

"The new discourse has been, 'Well, we're going to get it, but let's do what we can to get ourselves double vaccinated, triple vaccinated,' " Shaikh said. Up against that advice, she said it "makes absolutely zero sense" to send her child back to school before they're fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the province's English school board said classes for students in grades 8 and 9 at Menihek High School in Labrador City would be suspended Tuesday "due to staffing pressures." In a notice posted to Facebook on Monday, the school board said an update would be provided on the situation on Wednesday morning.

Newfoundland and Labrador is the second Atlantic Canadian province to send students back to school during this latest wave of the pandemic. Students in Nova Scotia returned to the classrooms last Monday, while schools in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick will resume in-person learning on Jan. 31, at the earliest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2022.

-- With a file from Michael MacDonald in Halifax.