Many parents worry as Premiere Legault announces possible school closings for the winter & Park Ex residents fear getting tested out of fear of losing income
Despite having an early resolve not to close schools once again as was done in the early portion of the pandemic, Premiere Legault now says that this may be unavoidable. “Schools are a place of transmission. Children have already lost many days of schools last spring, but we have to consider all our options to break the wave,” he said.
A plan to close schools in the works … and why
When he made his statement earlier this month regarding the school closings for the winter, he stressed that no concrete decision had been made, but they were certainly leaning in that direction. “Closing schools for a month, including the holidays, maybe extended a bit more or less, that is what we are envisioning right now,” he also said.
He also stated that he and his officials had been privately planning to close schools and was inclined not to go public with the news, probably in order to not create a panic amongst the people. This is news to many, as he was very adamant just at the start of the month that he and his administration were dedicated to keeping schools open and essential workers at work, seemingly with no plans to close schools. In the end, many feel that the government is simply playing a game of catch-up with an uncontrollable situation.
He was even grilled by one and all at the national assembly because many feel that he and his administration haven’t done everything in their power to have proper ventilation in public schools … a possible reason why schools and children are such able carriers of Covid-19.
As the numbers stand as this decision is mulled over
As of press time, the numbers that Quebec presents daily show that the cases are surely still on the rise. School closings for the winter seem evident: The most recent data on the evolution of COVID-19 in Québec show 1,207 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 128,440. The data also report 34 new deaths, for total of 6,744. Among these 34 deaths, 7 have occurred in the last 24 hours, 19 have occurred between November 12 and November 17, 5 have occurred before November 12 and 3 have occurred at an unknown date. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 1 compared to the previous day, for a cumulative total of 651. Among these, the number of people in intensive care increased by 1, for a total of 101. The samples conducted on November 17 amount to 31,935 for a total of 3,586,364.
What this means for parents
The discussion amongst parents is as always a scale tip back and forth … many wanting to keep their children and thus the rest f their families as far away from the clutches of Covid-19 as possible. But on the other hand, there are those that the announcement of a possible closing, means a very difficult time ahead, with children at home and nowhere to leave them while they go to work. Many people still need to leave the home for work and for these parents; the prospected closing may mean serious issues.
Testing in park Extension … mounting fears
For many in Park Ex, it is already known that the area is a hotbed for Covid-19. We’ve covered this, as have many other news outlets all over the city. A few weeks back, we also covered a story on a testing clinic at Howard Park where very few showed up to get tested. Well, as was also reported by Global News, many in Park Ex fear getting tested over the possibility of ultimately losing income. “An employee should not be afraid to go for a test because he fears the economic consequences. Employers should not put pressure on a symptomatic worker to come to work, on the contrary, they should put pressure on them to go for testing, without negative consequences,” said Jean-Nicolas Aubé, a public health spokesperson. But despite this awareness, this is how many feel.
