Final pdf 05 October, 2020

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
07
Tam urges Thanksgiving
caution amid recent rise
in cases of COVID-19
The Canadian Press
Plan ahead to make sure
this year’s Thanksgiving
holiday is safe during the
COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s
top public health officer
urged on Sunday as case
counts continued to soar in
several parts of the country.
Dr. Theresa Tam said
indoor holiday gatherings
of family or friends should
be kept small, especially in
provinces such as Quebec
Ontario where infection
rates are highest.
“We’ve got some serious
planning to do,” Tam said in
a statement released nearly
a week before the national
holiday on Oct. 12.
“Not the carefree planning
we had last Thanksgiving
but rather some ingenious
Canadian COVID-19
’holiday-hacks’ that will
ensure there are no viruses
invited or passed around at
our gatherings.” Tam said
people celebrating outdoors
should follow physical distancing
guidelines and encouraged
people to avoid
sharing food and other objects
during their meals.
She also suggested that
Canadians opt for virtual
Thanksgiving dinners instead
of in-person gatherings.
Her advice comes as
new COVID-19 case numbers
continued their upward
trajectory in several
parts of the country, most
notably in central Canada,
where tighter restrictions
have been put in place in
recent days to try to prevent
the spread of the virus.
Quebec reported more
than 1,000 new diagnoses
for the third straight day
on Sunday, while Ontario
has recorded more than 500
cases every day for the past
week. The Quebec government
announced plans to
move three towns in the
Gaspesie region to its highest
COVID-19 alert level on
Monday, and urged residents
to minimize their contacts
with people outside
their homes.
In Ontario, stricter limits
on restaurants, bars and
fitness facilities took effect
in three main hot spots —
Toronto, Peel Region, and
Ottawa — this weekend in a
bid to halt the surging case
numbers in those regions.
The province also has
announced other measures
aimed at addressing a testing
backlog, all of which
take effect this week.
Manitoba said Sunday
that multiple people tested
positive for COVID-19 in
Little Grand Rapids First
Nation, after it said they
attended events at a recreation
centre late last month.
The province said the
chief and council of the eastern
Manitoba community
have ordered residents to
stay home and only go out
for medical appointments
and testing. If essential supplies
are needed, only one
person should venture out
to collect them.
Manitoba also reported
one new death attributed
to the virus, a man in his
50s in the Winnipeg region,
who became the 23rd person
to die from COVID-19 in the
province.
Health officials in
Prince Edward Island identified
two more cases in
that province, attributing
both to unspecified travel
outside the region. Chief
Medical Officer Dr. Heather
Morrison said the patients,
both men, have been selfisolating
since arriving on
the Island.
Meanwhile, Canadians
struggling with the fallout
of the COVID-19 pandemic
will be able to start applying
on Monday for two new benefits
available from the federal
government after legislation
creating them was
rushed through the House
of Commons last week.
The first is a caregiver
benefit targeting Canadians
with young children forced
out of school or day-care
settings due to the virus. It
provides $500 per week for
up to 26 weeks to those with
children under 12 who can’t
work more than half-time
due to pandemic-related
caregiving responsibilities.
The benefit, which is
only payable to one worker
in a household, is also available
to those who can’t work
because their children or a
family member is sick, has
to quarantine or is at high
risk of COVID-19.
The second benefit is a
two-week paid sick leave
worth up to $1,000 for workers
who can’t work more
than half the week because
they have contracted COV-
ID-19 or have an underlying
condition that puts them
more at risk of the illness.
Starting on Oct. 12, Canadians
will also be able to
start applying for a third
program which replaces
the $500-per-week Canada
Emergency Response Benefit
that has formed the
main support for Canadians
unable to work due to CO-
VID-19.
Pandemic concerns: Teachers worried
about their health, quality of education
The Canadian Press
Kelly Main says she has never
felt as exhausted and stressed during
her 27 years of teaching high
school as she has since returning
to the classroom this fall during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
As someone who teaches
Grades 10 and 12 in Waterloo, Ont.,
she is facing the challenge of delivering
material to students in class
and online at the same time.
Waterloo Region School Board,
like many others across the country,
has adopted a hybrid system to
have a smaller number of students
in class at one time in a bid to avoid
COVID-19 outbreaks.
We’re expected to deliver the
material every day to both cohorts,”
she said of the 15 students she has in
class with her and the other 15 who
are studying remotely from home.
The two groups switch places every
five days. “You’re never going to be
on the same page because it’s obviously
harder to be working online.”
Rachel Collishaw, president of
the Ontario History and Social Science
Teachers’ Association, says
teachers are putting their students’
well-being above their own mental
health, which she thinks will end
up causing long-term problems
with stress.
Teachers are feeling stressed
about becoming sick, but also being
unable to adapt to the new hybrid
teaching system, Collishaw said.
It’s basically doubling the workload
on top of the COVID stress.”
A recent survey of high school
teachers from the Association for
Canadian Studies found 78 per cent
of respondents were afraid of getting
COVID-19. Only 40 per cent
said they were confident upholding
safety protocols within their own
classrooms.
The online survey of 250 high
school teachers, mostly from Ontario
and Alberta, was conducted from
Sept. 4 to 14. It cannot be assigned a
margin of error because internetbased
polls are not considered random
samples.
A lot of these teachers, I would
argue, also are on the front line,”
said Jack Jedwab, president of the
Association for Canadian Studies.
And while about three-quarters
of high school teachers who responded
to the online survey said
they understand the measures
needed to support the well-being of
students during the pandemic, Jedwab
said it is concerning the rest
did not. Teachers need more support
in terms of addressing the challenges
that they’re facing with respect
to the effects of the pandemic,”
he said. On top of wearing a mask,
goggles and using hand sanitizer
dozens of times a day, Main says
making sure that students follow
those measures too is now also part
of her workload.
It’s a lot more time,” she said.
“It’s exhausting because of
course we’re shouting through
our masks and through our facial
shields or goggles to be heard.”
Even all those measures do not
necessarily make her feel safe.
She said one of her students
emailed her that she had a sore
throat and a headache, which made
Main concerned about her health.
Main, 53, has also stayed up until
after midnight in recent weeks
marking assignments and recording
videos for her students.
The day never ends,” she said.
“It never ends.”
She also noted that some teachers
are in an even tougher position,
such as those who are newer to the
profession or have younger children
in the classroom.