Quebec teachers demand N95 masks, better ventilation as province prepares for return to school

Quebec teachers unions are slamming the government's decision to reopen elementary and high schools without providing teachers with N95 masks and outfitting all classrooms with mechanical ventilation systems.

The unions' reaction follows the province's announcement that in-person classes would resume Monday, despite admissions that reopening could lead to a "very large number" of teacher absences.

In a statement, the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers said while it acknowledges that online learning is not ideal for families or for students, it was "astonished" that the government was sending students back to class without further safety measures.

The Quebec government is holding a technical briefing Friday to outline how it plans to address air quality in schools.

The Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE), which represents members of nine teachers' unions, warned in a statement of classrooms becoming "incubators" for COVID-19 transmission, and accused the Legault government of "wilful blindness." 

Education Minister Jean-François Roberge said Thursday that the government will distribute about seven million rapid tests to students over the coming two months, and make sure tests are available in schools if students have symptoms.

Montreal schools accounted for nearly half of all COVID-19 outbreaks in the city in December, according to Montreal public health figures. 

Most of those outbreaks were in elementary schools, where nearly 60,000 students still do not have a first dose of the vaccine. 

But interim public health director Dr. Luc Boileau said at a press conference Thursday that school outbreaks simply reflected the existing community transmission and "might not be a factor" in driving the spread of the virus. 

Roberge also announced that N95 masks will only be made available to teachers who work in specialized settings for students with disabilities, because those students may not be able to wear masks of their own.

Boileau's stance aligns with a new publication released by Quebec's public health research institute, the INSPQ, yesterday.

The publication, based on a scientific literature review performed before the Omicron wave, indicates that N95 masks do perform better than procedural masks in laboratory tests at blocking out small aerosolized particles when well adjusted on the face.

However, the INSPQ states that "in real workplace contexts, the two masks are efficient at preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and scientific findings do not demonstrate that one is superior to the other."

The INSPQ said studies showed that people were more likely to adhere to mask rules when wearing procedural masks, possibly because they found the tighter-fitting N95 masks uncomfortable.