Lower Mainland Mask Policy - Where Are We With COVID-19?

We have now entered the tenth month of COVID-19, and in BC we are in the midst of our second wave. The number of cases so far is as much as 7,899 active cases with 395 COVID related deaths. The daily number of cases is still increasing as we come closer to the Holidays.

In an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19, the BC provincial government has announced a stricter set of rules and regulations. The most notable part of this is that masks are now mandatory in indoor public spaces such as gyms and retail spaces. However, this does not include schools. In the Lower Mainland, different schools are taking their own approaches. Some schools have decided to make wearing masks mandatory and limit parent access to school facilities and provide contact-tracing assistance. However, this has not been successful in all cases. For example, at Cambridge Elementary, there have been complaints from parents regarding the contact tracing system the school has to offer. They claim that the speed and quality of it is so low, they had to turn to Facebook to track down people’s whereabouts.

There are also schools that have opted to make wearing masks optional such as some schools in Port Moody and Surrey. Based on the statistics from Global News since the beginning of October, the number of exposures at schools has increased substantially resulting in the BC Teachers Federation protesting against optional masks and is requesting others to wear masks when at school.

In Mulgrave, wearing masks is mandatory in class starting from Grade 4 and Mulgrave has enforced strict social distancing regulations. This has had a visible impact on low numbers of COVID cases within our community with only four exposures since the start of the school year with the latest ones in Grades 7 and 3.

As we get closer to the holidays, we can expect to see the number of cases increase. Therefore, everyone is advised to wear your masks and practice social distancing whenever possible to avoid exposure. It is unwise to hold big Christmas celebrations for the time being, but if we all avoid social gatherings, remember to wear our masks and properly distance, we can at least hope for a better Christmas next year. Stay safe.