The Ministry of Education is taking no chances with the safety of staff or students at public institutions across the island amid growing concern about COVID-19.
In fact, Minister Santia Bradshaw on Sunday revealed that the country’s education officials were being treated with the same caution as front-line public servants at the country’s port of entry.
Yesterday, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) upgraded the risk of COVID-19 transmission to “very high” based on international risk assessment guidelines.
Speaking with reporters after a church service at the St Barnabas Anglican Church, Minister Bradshaw acknowledged that primary and secondary educational institutions, in particular, carry an increased risk of disease spread.
“We have recently been in discussions within the Ministry about our public service announcements to the general public and particular within the schools, because quite recently we would have had a session with the Ministry of Health and the front-line workers and we believe that just like people at the airport are treated as front-line workers at the ports of entry, similarly, our teachers and administrators interfacing with students themselves also become front-line workers as well,” Bradshaw disclosed.
“And so it is important that we engage them in discussions on what are the signs that they should look for, what are the response mechanisms that must be in place to address students who they suspect may come to school and present with these types of symptoms as well.”
The World Health Organisation’s latest situation report indicates four cases of the COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Caribbean – two in St. Martin, one in the Dominican Republic and one in St. Barthelemy.
Some 213 cases have been confirmed in the United States of America and another 51 in Canada according to the international public health body.
In hard-hit regions like Asia and Europe, authorities have closed primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions in some cases. (KS)