Friction around the mask for teachers

Although it has been postponed in many schools due to the storm, the start of the new school year is a source of concern. For teachers, wearing an N95 mask would allay their fears a little. But in Montreal, we forbid them.

Alice Girard-Bosse
The Press

As thousands of Quebec students return to school this week, the Montreal School Services Center (CSSDM) is banning teachers from wearing their own N95 masks. A measure denounced by the union.

“The return to class under the current conditions worries the teachers. Access to the N95 would help many feel safe. Not only does the government not provide them to teachers who want them, but the CSSDM prohibits them from being worn by those who obtain them at their own expense. It’s unacceptable,” says The Press Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, President of the Alliance of Teachers of Montreal.

The CSSDM requires staff to use the personal protective equipment that is provided by the Ministry of Education, in order to ensure compliance, said the spokesperson for the school service center, Alain Peron.

The Lester-B.-Pearson school board, in Greater Montreal, will also continue to apply government and public health directives. Since the N95 masks have not been provided by the government, teachers will have to continue wearing the medical masks provided by the Ministry.

Guidelines vary by region. At the Draveurs school service center in Outaouais, staff members are allowed to wear their own N95 masks as long as they are certified, said communications advisor Mélissa Fortin.

“An N95 mask is a mask that is used mainly for surgeries. Public Health tells us [qu’un] procedure mask, which is less difficult to wear, is sufficient for our teachers, ”said the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, during his appearance on the show. Everybody talks about it, Sunday night.

“Not necessary in mainstream schools”

In the context of the meteoric spread of the Omicron variant, the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ) and its federations in the school sector are imploring the government to make N95 masks available to education personnel who request them.

Quebec rather reserves this type of mask for the staff of schools and specialized classes, since it is “not necessary in ordinary schools”, had indicated the new national director of public health, the D^r Luc Boileau.

Last Thursday, a study by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) concluded that the medical mask and the N95 mask are both effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19.

The N95 mask, if properly worn and fitted, is more effective than the medical mask in reducing exposure to small aerosols, according to experimental laboratory test data.

“However, this theoretical effectiveness is less clear in the field,” the INSPQ said in a statement. The data obtained in different real work contexts do not allow us to decide to date that the medical mask is less effective than the N95 in preventing infection, we can read there.

Security feeling

For Dominique Tellier, a teacher for 16 years at the Marie-Victorin school service center, on the South Shore of Montreal, the N95 mask offers more disadvantages than advantages. “Experts say it’s not for talking for long periods of time and you’re going to be exhausted,” he explains. The blue mask is already very difficult. »

The 48-year-old, however, does not see why people who wish to wear it cannot do so.

“Providing N95 masks to all teachers remains much less expensive and damaging than seeing our educational and medical structures collapse,” said a teacher working for the CSSDM, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from from his employer.

In written testimony, she told The Press Already wearing an N95 mask for two weeks and getting used to it. “For some teachers with vulnerable health, forcing them to wear the procedure mask is like telling them that they cannot protect themselves with a mask – the N95 or the KN95 – which plays the role of a “medicine” for them”, laments this professor.

“Inconsistency” deplored

Despite the contagion of the Omicron variant and the situation in hospitals, the Legault government decided on Thursday to maintain the date of January 17 for the return to school. (However, many schools are closed on Monday due to the snow storm.)

Quebec has promised a series of measures to ensure a safe return. More intervention masks will be offered in schools, and 7.2 million self-tests will be distributed for preschool and elementary school children. The deployment of CO readers₂ will continue until February, and air exchangers will be installed in schools that request them.

Nevertheless, these measures are far from reassuring parents and teachers who deplore an “inconsistency” and a “vagueness” in the government’s discourse.

Although many parents welcome with “relief” the reopening of schools for the learning of their children, a lack of clarity persists, indicated to The Canadian Press the president of the Federation of parent committees of Quebec, Kévin Roy.

“We kind of feel like we’re closing our eyes and moving forward. We will see what will happen, ”he said on the phone.

Ontario announced last week that it would provide access to more than 10 million fit-tested N95 masks for all staff in the education and child care sectors. This shipment is in addition to the four million three-ply cloth masks recently shipped for use in schools.

In the USA

Separately, U.S. health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the N95 or KN95-type masks used by medical professionals to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Since such masks were previously in short supply, officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had said they should be prioritized for use by medical professionals.

In an update to the guidelines released Friday, CDC officials eliminated concerns about supply shortages and made it clearer that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks provide the best protection.

On Thursday, United States President Joe Biden announced that his administration plans to make “high-quality face masks,” including N95s, freely available to the public. He said further details would be provided next week. The federal government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks, the White House said.

With the collaboration of Lila Dussault, The Press, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press