The possibility of students returning to the classroom for face-to-face learning hangs in the balance as health officials begin to battle the highly contagious Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, less than two weeks before the start of the new school term.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George gave that indication on Thursday after disclosing that the latest COVID-19 variant has been confirmed in Barbados and is likely already spreading in the community.
Responding to a question from Barbados TODAY during a media briefing, Dr George indicated that health officials and representatives of the Ministry of Education were now engaged in talks regarding the safe reopening of schools amidst what could become a surge in Omicron cases.
Explaining that the protocols for a possible return to the classroom were developed prior to the discovery of Omicron here, Dr George admitted that officials will have to return to the drawing board.
In November, Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said the Ministry of Education was considering both face-to-face classes and a blended approach to the next school term, scheduled to start on January 10.
“We are quietly talking with the Ministry of Education and I am not in a position to make a pronouncement on schools, but what I would say at this time, and based on our numbers that are increasing, we have to be cautious. That is how public health always moves,” said Dr George.
“We assume many partners in this fight – we work with tourism, we work with education, we work with the Barbados Police Force, every agency you can think of. So we will continue to work with education, I know protocols have been developed and these were pre-Omicron protocols, but certainly, we may have to go back to the drawing board in some instances to get a better understanding of what are the risks associated with the opening of schools in this environment,” he added.
Dr George indicated that officials were also still looking at vaccinating children ages five to eleven.
Officials have estimated that it would require between 28,000 and 30,000 vaccine doses to achieve a 75 per cent vaccination rate in that age range.
The CMO also disclosed that the Ministry of Health was “looking to source nasal testing for children to go back to school safely because we wanted a non-invasive test for the children”.
“So we continue to look to see what tests are out there and to make a determination which test is more suitable for which occasion,” he said. (MM)
