Mask mandate drops in Nova Scotia public schools Tuesday
When Nova Scotia students return to public schools on Tuesday, after the Victoria Day long weekend, wearing masks will be optional.
"I haven’t been to school since Grade 10 without masks and I am a senior," says Jenna Kedy, a Grade 12 student.
Kedy is fully vaccinated and is also immunosuppressed.
"It terrifies me, I’m very scared to get COVID and I have been since the beginning," she says.
Despite that, Kedy says she is ready for masks to come off.
"I think we’re coming to a consensus that I think we need to continue to live our lives even though there’s some devastating effects from that. I just think we need to kind of move on a little and live with it," says Kedy.
Halifax's IWK Health Centre successfully lobbied the province to keep the mandate when they previously planned to drop it.
Though it won't happen this time, the hospital is encouraging students and staff to keep their masks on.
"Our IWK emergency department and inpatient wards are experiencing extremely high volumes, and we still have staffing challenges because of COVID. Our group is concerned about the resulting impact on our pediatric health care system," says Dr. Andrew Lynk, pediatrics chair at the IWK Health Centre.
The president of the Nova Scotia Teacher's Union says the membership is split on the issue. Paul Wozney raises some concerns that the weakened system might break.
"We were already in the middle of a substitute teacher crisis before Omicron and that's just been made worse. So, I think we're worried. Masking, really, has been the only layer of real protection in schools since November and we’ve barely been able to keep the doors open on a day-to-day basis," says Wozney.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.