Key takeaways:
- Modifications are not anticipated to occur in time for students’ return on Jan. 10.
- Seventy schools in Nova Scotia, approximately 19 per cent, do not have any automated ventilation.
- Instead, they depend on natural energies like the wind to ventilate the air.
Nova Scotia decides to modify ventilation systems in some schools:
With Nova Scotia students due to return to classrooms the following week and the Omicron surge of COVID-19 still spiking, the region is peeking to boost several school ventilation systems.
At a COVID-19 briefing Monday, Premier Tim Houston stated schools with inactive ventilation systems are the mark. Passive ventilation systems have no automated features and depend on natural forces — such as wind blowing in through windows — to supply air circulation.
Ventilation information from August 2021 shows almost 19 per cent of Nova Scotia schools (70 out of 373) have inactive ventilation.
All remaining schools, nearly 81 per cent, have what Houston defined as “pretty high-quality HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems,” and are not anticipated to be a portion of this round of upgrades. Source – cbc.ca
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Houston emphasised that Public Health has not recognised any problems with the ventilation in schools, but he added, “We hear what’s occurring in the community and we want to be responsive so we’re looking at those schools with passive systems.” Source – cbc.ca
For much of the pandemic, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and several parents have been pushing the government to boost school ventilation systems.
NSTU president Paul Wozney persisted in that vein Monday, stating in a press release that schools have “questionable ventilation.” Source – cbc.ca
It was one of the causes, in addition to the conclusion to complete contract tracing by Public Health for school cases, that Wozney stated classrooms are not prepared to reopen. He called for the region to reinstate remote education for at least the first week of the latest term.
