With education centres across the province beginning their COVID-19 induced closure by this time next week, many parents are concerned why their kids are still allowed in public schools.

A father of young school-age children himself, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he has wondered the same thing. If the Chief Public Health Officer is recommending no in-school classes during the weeks on either side of spring break, then what are students doing at their desks right now?

“The [Chief Public Health Officer's] response was that the risk is very very low at this point, particularity for young people,” Goertzen says.

According to Goertzen, the coronavirus has become known for generally avoiding those under the age of 18. While that rule does have exceptions, he says there has been only a very small number of students in China who have become sick and, to his knowledge, none that have died. It is likely those statistics are transferable.

Predictions and forecasts are challenging. They are going to be a daily endeavour.”

Goertzen stresses that reacting too quickly and withdrawing kids from school immediately could have unintended consequences such as putting those same kids in contact with people who are more susceptible to the illness. And, with a pandemic on the loose, he believes almost every decision will have a ripple effect.

“For example, some schools don’t know if they will have cleaning supplies after Wednesday and may have to close because of that," Goertzen says. "That is an unintended consequence from the hoarding and the buying that is going on around the province.”

Looking further into the future, Goertzen says he is unsure whether or not Manitoba will be forced to follow Alberta’s lead in cancelling school for the remainder of the semester.

“Predictions and forecasts are challenging. They are going to be a daily endeavour,” the minister says.

Meanwhile, Goertzen commends teachers across the province for tackling the tedious task of preparing online and at-home learning material for an indeterminate amount of time.

“That is a difficult thing," he states. "I think there is an understanding that we are all in uncharted waters here."