{"id":22449,"date":"2022-04-27T10:26:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T13:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=22449"},"modified":"2022-04-29T15:53:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T18:53:33","slug":"mla-calls-on-new-brunswick-to-resume-masking-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/mla-calls-on-new-brunswick-to-resume-masking-in-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"MLA calls on New Brunswick to resume masking in schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Green Party MLA Megan Mitton speaks in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly on Nov. 18, 2020. Photo: Screenshot\/greencaucusvert.ca.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NOTE: This article was updated on Friday, April 29, 2022 at approximately 3:20 p.m. to include a response from the provincial Department of Health. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sackville’s MLA says the province should reinstate masking in schools, following a recommendation from the New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The provincial government removed COVID-19 protections on March 14 – including the mask mandate in public schools – just as children returned from March Break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when the province ended its state of emergency for the second time since the global pandemic hit New Brunswick more than two years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock released a report<\/a> calling for the government to “revert to the status quo that existed when the flawed decision” to lift the mask mandate came down, and to review the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inquiry found there was an \u201coverreliance on following other provinces without providing evidence, projections and measurements that would justify the Public Health recommendation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on this story, CHMA spoke to Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, the Green Party\u2019s health and education critic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitton said she’s been hearing from parents and teachers who are concerned about their health and safety since the province lifted the mask mandate. “There’s a real sense of feeling abandoned,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can hear the full interview here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n