COVID on Campus? Education C.E.O. Says Not Exactly
It’s only three days into the reopening of schools for hybrid learning across the country, but there are already reports that COVID-19 may be spreading at some schools. Reports began circulating on social media that teachers and students from several schools in the Belize District have tested positive for COVID. This, of course, was cause for concern among social media users, particularly among parents. With the number of daily reported active cases, doctors believe the infection rate of the current wave has already reached community spread. But, has that spread now infiltrated the school system? News Five spoke to C.E.O. at the Ministry of Education, Dian Maheia for some answers.
Dian Maheia
On the Phone: Dian Maheia, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Education
“What we are learning is that we are getting notifications of different cases of COVID in different schools. However, what seems to be the case, is that not all of these teachers and students being reported from the schools, they are not all physically in the classroom. So, if I could explain what I mean by that, is that, remember we have only been open two full days. Today is day three. Some of the students that we have confirmed have tested positive are actually at home recovering. Other students are being tested as a precaution. The students who were in contact with students who tested positive are being encouraged to quarantine as a responsible measure. The case of St Martin De Porres , for example, the teachers who engaged with those students have all tested negative. Again, they have been advised to just quarantine for safety. What we are seeing, there is another school report from San Pedro, and the teachers who reported to have tested positive, have not been in the classroom. So, I think that we do have certain measure of panic happening. But, we do not need to panic. What we do need to be is responsible. If we really want to get our classes open for hybrid learning, then we need to be consistently responsible. That means we have to follow the protocols. We all know how this virus is transmitted. We know how it is spread. And, we know what we need to do to stop the spread or limit the spread.”
