Manitoba school restart challenging, says Pallister

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This article was published 02/09/2020 (1613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With less than a week before students head back to school, Premier Brian Pallister admits he’s a little bit apprehensive about how the fall will play out.

The number of cases of COVID-19 have been surging in Manitoba of late, and parents are nervous — if not downright anxious — about the start of classes.

“It’s a monumentally challenging time,” Pallister said in an interview Wednesday at his office in the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Manitoba has been planning for the start of school this fall since spring. On Wednesday, it laid out more details for parents and teachers about what can be expected when school starts Sept. 8.

Plans are being continually revised. Earlier this week, for example, the province announced the very youngest schoolchildren — not just those Grade 4 and up, as originally planned — would be required to wear non-medical face masks on school buses.

Pallister said the back-to-school plan has involved “really good advice” from the province’s medical experts, with input from school divisions and parents.

“The partnership that has to exist in education, I think, has worked well to this point. But to say that I wasn’t apprehensive would be wrong. I am,” he said.

Every province is going through the same challenges as Manitoba, and everyone is hopeful, Pallister said.

He said children learn better in school, and parents have been telling him their children miss their friends.

“I wouldn’t agree with those who say that this is gambling with our children. I’ve heard that said and it’s not true,” the premier said. “But it’s fair to say it is an experiment, because it is a first-time thing. And I think there’s a difference between gambling and experiments.

“We’re doing the best we can to shape the odds in favour of our kids. And we all know that 100 per cent safety, keeping kids out of school, isn’t the answer.”

On Wednesday, Manitoba reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 — lower than in many recent days.

The current five-day test positivity rate fell to 1.8 per cent, from 2.2 per cent the previous day. There have been 1,244 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the province to date, and 14 deaths. Fourteen Manitobans are in hospital with COVID-19, with one in intensive care.

The province also reported Wednesday one staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 at each of two personal care homes in Winnipeg: Fred Douglas Lodge and Beacon Hill Lodge Long Term Care Home. Close contacts are being identified in each facility and investigations are continuing.

Pallister said Manitoba has adopted measures in its school plan that will allow it to isolate cases and remove students from high-risk situations without closing an entire facility.

“We got some really good advice from our medical people. We got some really good practices and plans put in place — or being implemented now — by our school divisions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the premier took a swipe at critics who have accused him of worrying about the economy at the price of public safety. He said the province can pursue both goals at the same time.

“If there was ever a time for people to learn, if they didn’t know already, that there’s a symbiotic relationship between health and social services and the economy of Manitoba, this is the time to figure it out,” he said.

“The safer we are, the more discretionary income we have, the better chance we have to create jobs and wealth for each other, the more tax we generate… that can support our social services.”

Pallister said he will be watching keenly as the latest employment numbers are released Friday. The most recent figures showed 40,000 fewer Manitobans were working, compared with at the start of the pandemic.

“That doesn’t make me happy,” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca