Wildfire smoke and respiratory illness concerns Alberta parents
Posted September 18, 2023 3:47 pm.
Last Updated September 18, 2023 9:44 pm.
Although the skies cleared Monday, Edmonton spent much of the weekend with poor air quality due to wildfire smoke.
Doubling the concern for parents worried about their children getting sick with a return school.
“My daughter still wears a mask, especially when we got this confluence of wildfire smoke and illness. We had at least two COVID cases in her class last week,” explained Amanda Hu.
Hu has been advocating for masking and testing air quality during Alberta’s smoke-filled Summer.
“Wildfire season started in May, it’s almost October — that’s six months of exposure to wildfire smoke — that’s not a rare occurrence, that’s half a year.”
The wildfire smoke comes at the same time students have returned to class for the Fall, which is normally when the province sees a spike in respiratory illnesses. Alberta’s Education Minister put out a statement encouraging hand washing, staying home when sick, wearing a mask, and respecting those who do.
Concerns over what others think about wearing a mask are no concern to Hu.
“We’re kind of big fans of doing our own thing and minding our own business and we hope that people would do that too.”
Edmonton Public School Board says students are kept indoors for recess when the air quality is seven or higher, but can still get outside for the afternoon on a day like Monday when the skies clear up.
