Thought of the Day - March 9 - "Rapid" Response Teams

In an unsurprising statement last week, the B.C. Teachers' Federation said WorkSafeBC data shows a "250 percent increase" (which is actually 3.5x the number) in occupational COVID-19 infection claims in the education services sector since early December. According to the statement, the number of claims from the sector is second only to health care.

Here is a list of Burnaby school "exposures" of late (of course without a BC tracking app these are weeks in arrears).

Remember those million-dollar Rapid Response teams, the ones that were to review significant exposures to the virus? Well the main thing that is not rapid about them is their creation. Federal funding approval, which should have been near the end of the planning process, was given February 1st and yet a month later the Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside is still promising "six new rapid response teams will help schools in B.C. identify gaps in COVID-19 safety plans to help reduce exposure risk" - notably using the future tense, as the first one, in Surrey, is only just getting started.

It was hoped these teams would be finishing up their reports by now, to allow for any implementation required during Spring Break that starts next week. Looks like this window has now been missed.

With the possibility of a third-wave starting in BC, there is a good chance that outbreaks in schools will increase not decrease after the break. By the looks of things, the upcoming school holiday should be called Spring Make or Break.

Cheers

Cliff