Declare your classroom's CO2 levels: A call for accuracy by Covid Ecoles Quebec
Teachers and staff in schools across Quebec are being encouraged to share their classrooms' CO2 readings on website Covid Écoles Québec, which was originally created to track the number of positive COVID-19 cases in schools.
Founder Olivier Drouin says he started the CO2 detector page for the same reason he began asking people to declare positive COVID-19 cases in their schools: data transparency.
"All data known to date that is used to determine action plans by schools and school boards are underestimating the number of classes with air quality issues, which is much bigger than the 10 per cent quoted by [Quebec Education] Minister [Jean-François] Roberge," he said. "In addition, the government did not commit to making the data available."
Last September, Quebec's education ministry said it would install 90,000 CO2 readers in elementary, high school, vocational and adult education classrooms across the province.
This came after the ministry issued a call for tenders over the summer, with the goal of being able to monitor indoor air quality through temperature and humidity.
"The government asked the service centers to make a daily average of the measurements taken by the readers," information of Covid Écoles Québec explains. "The measurement is done every five minutes during the day and every hour in the evening and at night."
However, Drouin states that according to these types of calculations, average CO2 levels will decrease because students aren't present in classrooms at night.
"It is therefore important to know the true measurements while the children are in class," he said.
Last week, the Quebec government confirmed that 68 per cent of its 90,000 CO2 readers were already installed in classrooms.
The promise had been to put a reader in each classroom of every school by the end of December 2021.
Covid Écoles Québec also created a page for people to declare a positive COVID-19 rapid test -- something the Quebec government has yet to build, causing inaccurate tallies of cases in the province every day.
"The government encourages citizens not to obtain a confirmatory PCR test following a positive rapid test result," the website notes. "This greatly underestimates the number of daily cases."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Hamas says latest ceasefire talks have ended. Israel vows military operation in 'very near future'
The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after "in-depth and serious discussions,"{ the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
B.C. man wants homes for thousands of books he soon won't be able to read
In the 10 years since John William started to lose his vision, he's been finding new ways to enjoy his vast personal library.
‘Love has no boundaries’: Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Trudeau 'absolutely' best person to lead the Liberals in next election: LeBlanc insists
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc insists he's not planning a leadership campaign to head the Liberal party, should current leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign, seemingly quashing rumours he's planning to make a move for his boss' job.
Bombarded with spam texts? Stats show the problem is getting worse in Canada
In particular, messages that involve phishing — an attack where a scammer tries to trick the recipient into clicking a malicious link, downloading malware or sharing sensitive information — are on the rise.
One dead after potential wrong way crash on Highway 401 in Milton: OPP
One person is dead and another is in life-threatening condition after a driver was travelling in the wrong direction on Highway 401 in Milton Sunday, according to police.
opinion You don't need to be an influencer to earn income from social media
How legitimate are claims by some content creators that the average person can earn passive income from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram? Personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says it's quite possible, if you're willing to put in the initial time and effort.
William Shatner says he would consider 'Star Trek' return: 'Here comes Captain Kirk!'
The Montreal-born actor, famed for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," says he is open to reprising the iconic role in the sci-fi franchise as long as the storytelling is stellar.