MAY 6, 2021 By Joy -Ann Gill — BGIS
Although a student has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Princess Margaret Secondary School, and another student at the St. George Primary School has been placed in quarantine, awaiting a second COVID-19 result, Health Minister Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic has stressed there is no problem at either school.
Addressing a press conference this evening at Ilaro Court, the Minister said: “At this point in time, we do not have a problem at the two schools, even though we have concerns, one positive case, and the fact that this is really a family cluster that we are dealing with, which has spread its wings into these two schools.”
He noted it was similar to the situation, several months ago, at The Ellerslie School, where there was a family cluster, he stressed his Ministry had taken all the public health measures that it could at this time, and was applying experiences from that school to the present situation.
Assuring the media that his Ministry was confident it would be able to deal effectively with the situation at the two schools, Minister Bostic said the process of contact tracing had begun in relation to the positive case, with a number of persons being tested.
He added: “We also did the same at the primary school at St. George in terms of at least getting ourselves ready for contact tracing if that situation develops, but remember that the student there tested negative on first test and is awaiting the second test in a few days. That student is in quarantine.
“We are satisfied that the Ministry of Education has taken the right decisions in relation to suspending the two classes at Princess Margaret that would have been impacted by the positive cases, suspending face-to-face classes, that is, going back to online classes for the time being, and we will be watching the situation very closely to see if we pick up any additional cases at the school, after doing and completing the second test.”
Divulging that three teachers at Princess Margaret should have been tested by the time the press conference was on, he said these were teachers whom the Ministry felt were exposed, given their proximity to students and to the positive case.
However, he gave the assurance that the Ministry was satisfied that as long as the protocols, being upheld in the schools were adhered to, persons would be okay.
Lt. Col. Bostic also pointed out that the Ministry had decided to make testing available on Saturday for any member of this secondary school who may feel uneasy and want to be tested, and said this was out of an abundance of caution, as is normally done.
Reiterating that the single case at Princess Margaret Secondary School did not indicate an outbreak of COVID-19 there, he said the Health Ministry would follow the science and undertake the necessary testing and by the time this was finished they would know exactly what was going on.
Contact tracing of this family cluster is also expected to continue as well as within the communities where these members and families reside.
Stating that this was par for the course, Mr. Bostic added: “We have been dealing with it all along; COVID is here. We have to deal with it; we have to live with it; it is not a situation that is going to make us reverse any of the decisions that would have been made in relation to the easing of restrictions because we are comfortable that this is not going to be one of those cases at this point in time.
“Similarly, we did the same thing with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and we did the same thing with the Psychiatric Hospital because these have been isolated and restricted clusters that we have been able to get on top of. We will continue to monitor the situation.”
By Joy Ann Gill — BGIS
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Ministry To Monitor Students Affected By COVID Scare
NYA PHILLIPS — BGIS
The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT) will be monitoring the psychological health of students who were affected by the COVID-19 scare at two public schools.
Acting Chief Education Officer, Joy Adamson, made the revelation in response to a question on whether the situation would affect students’ preparation for the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination and the Caribbean Examinations Council exams.
She was speaking during a press conference, televised from Ilaro Court this evening, to update the country on suspected exposure to the virus at St. George Primary and the Princess Margaret Secondary School. The two students at the centre of this situation have been linked to two family clusters.
Mrs. Adamson said given the situation, there will be no classes at the Six Roads, St. Philip secondary institution, tomorrow, Friday, May 7.
“The principal would have met with the staff today and the students. We know that some students will not be in a frame of mind to continue some of their practical exams. That is something we would have to monitor, say next week. Tomorrow’s classes will be suspended and we will be monitoring those students. Remember, they’re the exam students for the CXC, so they have the option to defer if they need to,” she explained.
However, classes for the students of St. George Primary would continue online as scheduled, Mrs. Adamson stated.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, noted that despite this development, there was nothing to suggest it would disrupt the hosting of face-to-face sessions across the school system.
School plants reopened on Monday, but only for primary students in Classes 3 and 4 and their fifth and sixth form secondary school counterparts.
“Barbados declared months ago that we had community spread. I accept that, but I can tell you maybe six weeks ago, there was consideration for reopening of face-to-face school. And at that time, the Ministry of Health and Wellness advised against that. Why? Because when we looked at our map, we were still seeing cases springing up in several communities around the country. For us, that would’ve been taking a risk that we did not think, at the time, would have been a manageable risk.
“However, at this point in time, we have a situation where our positivity average for the past two weeks, and I know we had a little spike about two days now, has been [around] one per cent. And to be honest with you, the cases have not been springing up around the country…. At the moment, we’re not seeing any widespread cases coming out of any of the situations we have been dealing with, and for that reason, I would say to you there is absolutely no reason why we should not have face-to-face classes,” he explained.
The Minister of Health also sought to allay the fears of the public, pointing out that there was “limited exposure” among the students, due to the enforcement of the established COVID-19 protocols in schools.
Referring to the situation at Princess Margaret Secondary School, which involves over 50 persons, the Minister stated: “The 58 students are from two classes. Persons who happen to be at school at that point in time. If you would recall, the Minister of Health happened to be at the airport to meet the Ghanaian nurses when they arrived; following all of these protocols, wearing my mask, social distancing and everything. I didn’t have any contact, but I happened to be there within a space.
“I went into quarantine and I was tested. I was absolutely certain in my mind that I was okay, but the protocol called for me to do that. And this is a similar situation. It is not that these students were close…. We consider that to have been limited exposure, but we still have to follow the science and do what is required.”
NYA PHILLIPS — BGIS
