TORONTO -- From the ventilation in schools to how often doorknobs are cleaned, parents are brimming with questions as their children return to the classroom.
Safety professional Lee-Anne Lyon-Bartley -- affectionately known as the 鈥楽afety Diva鈥 -- told 麻豆影视 Channel that there鈥檚 a few questions parents should definitely be aware of for this back-to-school season.
鈥淚 think you want to get a sense of, 鈥榃hat are they doing?鈥欌 she said in reference to each individual school鈥檚 preparations.
鈥淲hat is the schedule at my child鈥檚 school for cleaning and disinfection?鈥
She pointed out that high-touch areas in schools, such as doorknobs, handles and railings should be disinfected 鈥渁t least twice a day,鈥 since so many hands will use them.
鈥淭he things that people are going to touch the most is where you鈥檙e going to likely have the spread of COVID-19,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o are they being disinfected? Cleaning is one thing, but disinfection is another. Are they being disinfected often enough, and is the disinfectant that they鈥檙e using on the approved list from the government of Canada?
鈥淭hose are some of the questions that I鈥檒l be asking my child鈥檚 school next week.鈥
How much ventilation a school or classroom has is important, and is something parents could be pressing on.
鈥淰entilation is one of the points that I don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e heard a lot about in all of the news that鈥檚 come through, and it is important,鈥 Lyon-Bartley said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the public health measures, with the social distancing, there鈥檚 the hand washing, all those things, but [for] the actual physical building itself, ventilation [鈥 can actually make a big difference.鈥
Lyon-Bartley identified the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada (BOMA Canada) pandemic planning guide as a good resource.
鈥淚t talks about how you want to make sure that your schedules for your HVAC system and your preventative maintenance is being done and being done accordingly,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd also just making sure that you鈥檙e changing out those filters often.鈥
It鈥檚 worth probing to see if schools are taking these measures seriously.
Some of the biggest questions on parents鈥 minds are sure to be related to COVID-19 cases or outbreaks within schools. You want to make sure you鈥檙e aware of how schools plan to notify students, and what steps students and parents would be taking after that.
鈥淢ost schools are going to have notification systems in place,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y child goes to school in the Peel District School Board, and we鈥檝e already been informed that we鈥檒l be able to see if there are cases happening at his school or other schools.鈥
Public health officials will also be working with schools, she said, and will be required to notify the public separately in the event of outbreaks or cases as well.
鈥淪o you should expect to hear from either the school board or from Public Health if your child is at risk,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd if your child is diagnosed, then of course you鈥檙e going to follow the guidance from Public Health and your healthcare providers and follow it to a tee.鈥
The best way to make sure the information you鈥檙e looking up is relevant to your child鈥檚 school is to make sure you鈥檙e looking local and official.
鈥淪tick to the information coming from your schoolboard, coming from the government of Ontario, coming from the government of Canada, and also your local public health,鈥 Lyon-Bartley said. 鈥淧ublic health is different in different provinces and it鈥檚 really important for us to follow what鈥檚 maybe the closest to home and get that information.鈥
Getting panicked over regulations for a province on the other side of the country from you is not going to help you keep your anxiety down.
Staying on top of the changing landscape as the weeks go by will be incredibly important as well, as things unfold.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still just entering the schools, but what will tomorrow look like and what will next week look like?鈥 Lyon-Bartley said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you really do want to keep informed, and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask questions.
鈥淭ake action now."
