Calls grow for HEPA air filters in Canadian classrooms
CBC
As the highly transmissible Omicron variant fuels record-high case counts, and schools across Canada delay in-person learning, calls are growing for another layer of protection to be added to classrooms — HEPA filters.
Air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can reduce the concentration of some viruses in the air by capturing small particles, such as the water droplets that can carry the coronavirus.
Jill Davies-Shaw's daughter is in Grade Six at Glenora School in Edmonton.
In the fall, she and other parents fundraised to buy a portable purifier with a HEPA filter for the classroom.
Davies-Shaw says, with more acknowledgement that the coronavirus is airborne, there was concern about sending her daughter to in-person learning every day.
"Worrying about virus building up throughout the day and certainly in a classroom, especially in a space where children are removing masks to eat lunch, where they're spending a long time throughout the day — that was something that just made sense," she said.
But parents were told by the school board that ventilation was adequate. The unit was returned.
Now, the Edmonton Public School Board tells CBC News that it is looking into the possibility of installing HEPA filters.
"I think that the time for this is yesterday and it really needs to happen urgently at this point," Davies-Shaw said.
WATCH | Schools should install better air filters before kids return, say parents:
"I think at this point with how easily Omicron is spreading and how important it is for children to be able to be in-person in the classroom, learning with their peers, that we have to use all of the measures that we have available to us."
The Public Health Agency of Canada says the effectiveness of HEPA filters against the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has not been demonstrated yet. It says the filters can be used as an additional tool but should not replace other public health measures.
Despite that, some provincial governments are moving forward.
Ontario has sent thousands to certain schools and will be buying more before students return after the winter break, B.C. has promised them and New Brunswick is looking into the matter.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.