The provincial government has released more details on what post-secondary institutions, such as Camosun College, will look like in the fall.
The COVID-19 Return to Campus Primer was released last week and gives information about the return of on-campus classes at post-secondary institutions.
The primer’s recommendations are based on the context that by September, it is anticipated that COVID transmission will be low, and serious infections will be uncommon; it also says that all adults in BC will have had the chance to have at least one dose of a COVID vaccine by July 1, “while many will have received two doses by the end of August.”
The guidelines say that physical distancing will not be required in classrooms, with no limits on the number of participants in a class. It encourages students to sit in the same seat all semester.
Vaccines are not mandatory, with Camosun saying on its site that “Vaccination status is a person’s sensitive personal medical information.” On March 8, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said that post-secondary institutions should prepare for a full return to campus in September; this letter is attached to the primer, and in it, Henry says that “Immunization will support what seems likely to become stable coexistence with COVID-19 as another manageable, seasonal ailment.”
Masks may or may not be mandatory on campus, “depending on the rate of COVID-19 transmission” at that point. The primer says people should “Anticipate a role for non-medical masks,” however, saying they may be required in common areas “where individuals circulate freely.”
The government will be giving more guidance for institutions in the revised Go-Forward Guidelines for B.C.’s Post-secondary Sector, which is slated to be implemented on August 1.
The primer was developed by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training, representatives from the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, regional health authorities, and, according to a government press release, “a team of experts from the post-secondary sector.”