Hamilton schools waiting on N95 masks, HEPA filters as sources say in-person learning to resume
CBC
Hamilton school boards are waiting on more N95 masks and HEPA filters, as sources tell CBC News in-person learning is expected to resume on Jan. 17.
News of the return date was first reported by the Toronto Star Monday evening.
CBC Hamilton has reached out to local public school boards for comment.
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board chair Pat Daly said Monday evening he was waiting to hear from the Ministry of Education and said if the announcement is made, it would be good news.
Earlier Monday, Daly said the school board has received 140,000 N95 masks for education workers, but is still waiting on another 60,000.
He said he doesn't know when they'll arrive. The school board hasn't received any additional HEPA filters since learning went online on Jan. 5, he said.
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board spokesperson Shawn McKillop said the public school board received 182,000 N95 masks on Monday and isn't expecting any more. The masks are optional for staff and are not fit tested.
He said the board is expecting 57 extra HEPA filters from the province, but hasn't received them yet.
Last week, the chair of HWDSB penned a letter to Ontario's Ministry of Education making several requests "to help ensure that schools can reopen for safe in-person leaning as soon as possible." Those requests included priority access to vaccinations for front-line education workers and students, as well as funding or provisioning high-quality masks for students.
Education and child-care workers now have access to an appointment-only vaccine clinic in Hamilton, the city's medical officer of health said Monday afternoon.
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said the clinic at 1241 Barton St. E. is open every day from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
People who use it have to book appointments through the province, since Ontario runs the clinic, she said.
Children aged five to 11-years-old also have walk-in access to the Centre on Barton and Lime Ridge Mall vaccine clinics for first and second doses. Both clinics are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
About 41.1 per cent of those kids have one dose of vaccine, which falls short of the provincial average, 46.7 per cent.
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