Decision to be made next week on whether spike in COVID-19 cases will affect school

Officials from the Ministries of Education and Health will meet next week to decide whether the increased COVID-19 cases on the island will have any impact on the start of the next school term.

Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Kay McConney told the media on Wednesday that it was too soon to speak to any possible delay to the scheduled April 25 commencement of the Trinity Term.

“Right now it’s too early. We are currently getting the data. We have some of the data from what happened during the face-to-face school [and] we are now looking at the environment as it is now, and we will get back to the media next week and give you a full report as it relates to what the experience was during the term we’ve just concluded and what are our plans going forward,” she said on the sidelines of the launch of the Barbados Construction Gateway Training Initiative at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology.

In the past few weeks, the country has seen daily COVID-19 cases rising, with the increase linked to the presence of the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

The latest results from 1,264 tests carried out by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory on Tuesday show 389 new cases. On Monday, there were 543 positive COVID-19 cases, on the heels of 211 cases on Sunday and 261 last Saturday.

Minister McConney said: “Of course, as we see the numbers go up we have to consult with our partners, the Ministry of Health, and we have to also consult with our other partners in education as well as we seek to decide what’s next and what’s best.

“But I think what we also have to remember is we are now in a situation where we have to live with COVID and now we have to figure out how to live with it safely, responsibly and in a way that we ensure that we keep as many people alive but at the same time we balance that with our objectives as it relates to education.

“This is a dynamic situation and as a dynamic situation, we know that from day to day to day, the data can say different things…. Basically, we have to make sure that we are cognisant of what the current environment is and that we are making decisions based on the data we have at that time. We will make the best decision based on the information we have at the time and as we get new information we make new decisions. That is part of us being part of a dynamic situation,” the Education Minister added.

However, McConney said she was quite satisfied with how the Hilary Term, which ended last Thursday, had gone.

She said the fact there were no major outbreaks was a good sign.

“While there were very specific cases [of COVID-19], we expected that because schools are a microcosm of the rest of Barbados. If we have it in our supermarkets, if we have it in our workplaces, we expect we would have it in our schools too. However, I am pleased with the responsible manner in which the schools for the most part have dealt with this situation,” she said.

“It is because of that responsible behaviour that we have been able to see the outcomes we have seen, where we had, unfortunately, some loss of life, and my sympathies go out to those families, but we have for the most part been able to manage the situation reasonably well, and I think we have to draw some confidence in our ability to have traversed these rough waters over the last several months….” McConney said.

The Omicron BA.2 variant has contributed to surges in COVID-19 cases across the globe.

According to studies from the United Kingdom and Denmark, it is anywhere from 30 to 80 per cent more transmissible than the original Omicron variant (BA.1) which was considered mild when compared to the more severe Delta variant.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb