Elementary teachers contracting COVID-19 at higher rate of secondary teachers

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Elementary School teachers in British Columbia seem to be contracting COVID-19 at a higher rate than secondary school teachers.

According to WorkSafe BC data, there are higher rates of occupational infection claims for elementary school teachers compared to those in secondary schools. Data shows that as of March 11th, 80 kindergarten to Grade 7 teachers had tested positive for the virus, compared to 25 claims for Grade 8 to 12.

In a release from the British Columbia Teacher’s Federation, President Teri Mooring says, “The discrepancy in infection rates truly underscores the importance of mask-wearing in classrooms. Elementary schools aren’t subject to any mask mandates for students, unlike our secondary schools. The lack of transparent data about transmission in schools means we can only guess that the lack of masks is leading to more infections among elementary teachers.”

According to the release, to date, “89 per cent of elementary teachers’ COVID-19 claims have been allowed, compared to 74 per cent allowed among registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, and 71 per cent of claims for all occupations.”

Since WorkSafeBC updated data, 31 claims for infection were filed by workers in a public school district setting, increasing nearly 15 per cent.

Teachers and staff within the public school districts are the third-highest in claims, behind long-term care workers and acute care settings. Claims registered by public school districts exceed healthcare workers’ claims in other settings like community health support services and emergency health care.

The BCTF release also states that the BCTF WorkSafeBC Advocacy Office is advising teachers working in a classroom environment where there is a bigger risk of exposure to work with their local union to file a claim with WorkSafeBC if a diagnosis is given.