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HB NEWS COMMUNITY EFFORT NEEDED TO KEEP SCHOOLS OPEN: HALTON’S MOH KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com As schools prepare to wel- come ae ele back to in-person ton's chief medical Ghee of health is urging a col- laborative community effort to keep them open. “We all know how much our students and families have been through because of the pandem- ic. School is so much more than academics, and in-person learn- ing is key for emotional and so- cial skills development," said Dr. Hamidah Meghani in an infor- mation session for families host- ed by Halton District School Board last Thursday (Aug. . During the 2026/2021" school year, Halton public health i inves. tigated 1,197 school exp cases and 41 school outbreaks, “With Delta as the dominant variant of the virus circulating in our community now, I fully ex- pect that there will be more stu- dent cases and exposures to come this fall. That's why itis so impor- RENT WATER TREATMENT tant to have layers of protection at our schools and within community, including in your own homes to ensure that we are doing everything possible to re- duce the spread this fall." ecause the threat of CO- VID-19 remains a reality, school outin similar to last year's with students from JK to Grade 12 expected to wear masks in the classroom, hallways and on school buses. COVID cases declined in the region over the summer from an all-time mid-April peak because of the "enormous vaccination campaign that has bee pay as well as enhanced ie th me " however since ine suly, ‘they | are again on the rise. ‘he new wave is driven by the Delta variant which has signifi- cantly jumped from one per cent of Halton cases in April of this year, to 67 per cent of cases in Ju- ly and the proportion of Delta cases has likely climbed | higher in August, said Meghani. OFF A WHOLE HOME SYSTEM Because the Delta variant is more contagious, higher vacci- nation rates are needed to pro- tect the community at large, she said. As of August 18, all Halton youth born in 2009 or earlier are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. "Vaccines work. For cases re- ported in June to August among 12 to 17- year-olds in Halton, 100 per cent of these cases were among unvaccinated individuals or those who had only received one dose of the vaccine," said Meghani. The most recent data shows that the COVID-19 vaccination rates among 12 to a year-olds in Halton who have received first doses is 87 per cent and 77 per cent for those who have received SES, "This is amazing; and interest- ingly, Milton is outpacing the rest of our community with over 90 per cent of this age group with one dose, and 80 per cent with two doses. While this is extreme- ly encouraging, I know we can do Graham Paine/ Metroland Masking, distancing and screening are all part of HDSB's back-to-school plan. better. It is critical that we havea very high vaccination rate; as ciese to 100 per cent as we can get school closures and remote learning have negatively impact- ed the mental health and beha- viour of children and youth, said Meghani. Based on recent Halton data, parents of young children have reported more behavioural chal- lenges, while adolescents were NO PAYMENTS UNTIL JAN 2022! Q 5 Mountainview Rd N, Georgetown & (905) 877-6242 www.culligan.com | info@culliganwater.ca 388 Queen Street STORE HOURS: Sunday-Saturday: 8am-9pm @LucianoandSarahsNofFrills OWNERS LUCIANO & SARAH VECCHIO FRILLS East, Acton NoF e a Fd 3 a z z Fy z more likely to report anxiety and depressive symptom: “These trends are ‘seen noton- > worsening and ane ental health one comes, we'll need to work togeth- 2 secundes he “Along ‘with masking and phys- ical distancing, one of the key fea- x tures of the back-to-school plan & is screening. Allstudents teachers and staff must continue to self-screen for symptoms every day before at- tending schoolor: childeare using the Ministry o: alth's School and Childcare Screening Tool. Halton public health will also be resuming routine school- based immunizations for Hepati- tis B, HPV and Meningitis. Infor- mation is available at halton.ca/ immunize “Returning safely to school is a community effort based on in- dividual actions and we all havea role to play in helping to keep our numbers low." HAUL READY Follow @l for back to school deals ‘cause those lunch boxes won't fill themselves. eordyouy