this time i am trying to thing in school to return to normal. Most people are not ready for no masks yet, sad but true.

Hello Madam Lubinski;
I am writing this letter to share my thoughts and suggestions on the current state of pandemic. I heard on the news that the school board has not released its policy on vaccination of children. As we all know almost 20 months have passed since the start of lockdowns and rolling school closures. I believe at this time we all know that covid will not go away. But we have learned much, and it is time to take a step back, look at the larger picture and see how to provide a solution that is best for the children's total health.
With the vaccination of children, if anyone wants to have their child vaccinated, there should not be any barriers in their way. I believe we all can agree on this. I do not think it should be mandated. For some children it is a must. Fortunately for most, it is not. In Ontario there have only been two deaths of children with covid. And both were between 17 and 18 years old. As per the most recent report from the Ontario Ministry of Health as the link below states. It is extremely rare that children, especially under 17 are even hospitalized.
The World health organization “..it is less urgent to vaccinate them than older people, ..” And this is with respect to the higher risk group of 12 and up. More importantly many doctors globally have stated covid where may never go away.
I heard news reports that both children had underlying health impediments.
Do children get sick with covid, yes. Can they spread it, yes.
However, as per the same report from the Ontario Ministry of health,
“The rate of infection among children is approximately 1.6 times lower (2,523.7 per 100,000) than adults..”
As well the severity of the infection for them is much lower. The reason there is testing in schools is mostly because they show little to no symptoms. The ministry of health report reveals this by stating it is how most cases were found.
If you want to have two standards for testing and procedures for illness, it is understandable. One set of rules for those with the vaccine and another without. I do not think the children should be separated in class or at play or at any other activities. Kids need to be kids.
With respect to myocarditis concerns, I have read rates of occourrence being 1 in 500 to 1 to 1000. I have read that 63% of cases will be gone in 3 months. Why continue with the possibility of exposing this to boys with such a small chance of being hurt by the virus? Moreover, the effects of the virus in children are not permanent, but myocarditis for 37% of boys can be.
We need to continue to take precautions and have proper measures in place. The largest risk for children is mental health and proper social development. I searched for details about Canadian children affected by lockdowns, I could not find details. Only McMaster reported a 90% increase in cases over 4 months. Reference below
These numbers are from the US, details are provided in the link below.
“Hospitals saw in a seven-month span in 2020 a 24% increase over the same period in the year before in emergency visits due to mental health conditions among 5-to-11-year-olds, and a 31% increase among patients ages 12 to 17.
“Between ages 5 and 17, hospitals are seeing more frequent cases of self-injury and suicidal ideation.”
We all know why this is, imagine going to school and never seeing your teacher’s smile, or any facial features. It’s not natural to have their faces covered at such a young age. I understand the concerns and desire for children to wear masks.
We need to address children’s mental health, while keeping a safe area for adults. For the school staff is far more likely to be affected. I think school staff should be considered front line workers.
Masks can work. The current state is that we do not have mask standards, like in South Korea, or N95. Even double masking, at the claimed 90% viral capture, falls short of N95, which will stop 95%, and the Korean 94 % standard. I believe we should also be looking to provide staff with N95 or find a home-grown solution with a proper N rating. Even 75% capture would be better.
What most masks are doing to slow the spread is stop the water droplets when we speak, or breath. The virus is still circulating in the air. This is clear when seeing the most common place to catch covid is at work. And for most people that means wearing a mask.
The numbers show higher rates of transmission in schools without masks or outbreak. The definition of outbreak varies regionally, as well how much higher varies, from as little as .6%. For children that does not mean much, for school staff it is more concerning. Being vaccinated, will clearly help. And their vaccine will work regardless of the vaccination state of those around.
We must remove the masks from schools. If desired start using face shields. This will block the water droplets and allow people to smile again. To see each other's facial features and be more human again and reduce the mental health toll.
We know this is an airborne pathogen. We need to filter the air in the classrooms. This is not an easy task. Most buildings are heated with radiators as they are far more efficient to operate.
What I would like to do is crowd fund this task, the task of filtering the air in each classroom. The objective would be to filter the air in each classroom in under 1 hour. To do this we would need the volume of air in each room to find the best solution. Cleaner air would be better than just stopping droplets. Keeping a good distance will also stop the droplets from reaching people.
If any schools or teachers are interested, I can start the process of crowdfunding, finding and importing the proper machines and replacement filters. Ideally, they should be made closer to home. Hopefully by September 2022 we start to return to normal or much closer. I have some contacts who are familiar with importing and international shipping. I feel confident something can be done.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Steven Cruz.
References

COVID-19 Infection in Children: January 15, 2020 to June 30, 2021 (publichealthontario.ca)
Children's mental health is a pandemic crisis that needs immediate solutions, psychiatry chief says | Momaha | omaha.com
Number of youth in hospital after suicide attempt tripled over 4-month period under COVID-19 | CBC News
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00396-2
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/coronavirus-will-never-go-away/614860/