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I HOPE I find you well and in good spirit. The festive season has been generally peaceful but the reality of Covid is still ravaging.

We need to maintain vigilance so as to avoid a further increase in cases. Major spreader activities include parties, where people stand in line to receive service (boreholes, retail centres, and buses), opening of schools, churches and national borders.

These pose a risk of more Covid-19 local transmission cases. However, if we are all vigilant and maintain social distancing, wear our masks while sanitising and washing our hands on a regular basis, we reduce this risk significantly.

The opening of schools is around the corner. It has to be well managed so to prevent our children and teachers from contracting Covid-19.

Disseminating facts about Covid-19 will help diminish students’ fears and anxieties around the disease and support learner’s ability to cope with the diseases impact on their lives.

A critical stage will involve transportation of learner, as most learners commute. Parents have to ensure a corona-safe mode of transportation. Most urban learners use public transport to school. Arrangements will need to be made to have school or Zupco buses/commuter omnibuses dedicated to transportation of learners to their respective schools.

 

These vehicles will need to adhere to strict hygiene standards:

– Sanitisation of vehicles with alcohol before and after carrying passengers with alcohol spray or chlorinated water.

– Temperature check of all passenger before they embark (more than 37.5 degrees not to be allowed on the vehicle).

– Hand sanitisation of all passengers with 60 percent alcohol-based solution.

– Ensure masks are worn correctly and consistently while on the trip.

– Ensure social distancing in queues and with sitting arrangements (no standing passengers, at least one seat between passengers).

Schools need to plan ahead with local health authorities to ensure a safe school environment. Promote information sharing co-ordination and follow guidelines from the national health and education authorities.

Share known information with staff, caregivers and students, providing updated information on the disease situation, including prevention and control efforts at school. Utilise parent-teacher committees and other platforms to promote information sharing.

Also be sure to address children’s questions and concerns, including through the development of child-friendly materials such as posters which can be placed on notice boards, in restrooms, and other central locations. Reinforce that caregivers should alert the school and health care authorities if someone in their home has been diagnosed with Covid-19 and keep their child at home.

Flexible attendance and sick leave policies should be made that encourage students and staff to stay home when sick or when caring for sick family members. Discourage the use of perfect attendance awards and incentives.

A school absenteeism monitoring system can be implemented to track student and staff absence and compare against usual absenteeism patterns at the school.

Alert local health authorities about large increases in student and staff absenteeism due to respiratory illnesses. Plan for continuity of learning in the case of absenteeism/sick leave or temporary school closures, support continued access to quality education. This can be achieved through e-learning.

Recommendations for a healthy school’s programme include:

– Sick students, teachers and other staff should not come to school.

– Schools should enforce regular hand washing with safe water and soap, alcohol rub/hand sanitiser or chlorine solution and, at a minimum.

– Schools should provide water, sanitation and waste management facilities and follow environmental cleaning and decontamination procedures.

– Schools should promote social distancing.

– Ensure a procedure for separating sick students and staff from those who are well, without creating stigma, and a process for informing parents/caregivers, and consulting with health care providers/health authorities wherever possible.

– Students/staff may need to be referred directly to a health facility, depending on the situation/context, or sent home.

– Clean and disinfect classrooms facilities at least once a day, particularly high-touch surfaces like door handles, railings, lunch tables, sports equipment, door and window handles, toys, teaching and learning aids and light switches.

– Increase air flow and ventilation where climate allows (open windows, use air conditioning where available).

– Post signs encouraging good hand and respiratory hygiene practices.

Pre-schools should focus on good health behaviours, such as covering coughs and sneezes with the elbow and washing hands frequently. Sing a song while washing hands to practice the recommended 20 second duration. Children can “practice” washing their hands with hand sanitiser.

Develop a way to track hand washing and reward for frequent/timely hand washing.

Demonstrate why it is important to wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water. Put a small amount of glitter in students’ hands and have them wash them with just water, notice how much glitter remains, then have them wash for 20 seconds with soap and water.

Lessons should be pre-planned to tackle key areas in the syllabus that are difficult for learners. Subject areas that they can learn from home should be tackled from home. “Hot-sitting” may be introduced to reduce number of learners in a class at any one time. Desks should not be shared and be kept a meter apart facing the same direction.

Boarding schools will need to have a close monitoring of learners in the for signs and symptoms of Covid-19.

The handling of books will need learners and teachers to work together in the prevention of spread of Covid-19, which has been seen to last up to four days on paper and plastic. As much as feasibly possible there should be no sharing of books and materials in class.

Pupils should sanitise or wash hands before and during class as they handle books. Assignments and exams should be left on the desk to be collected by the teacher after the exam period.

Teachers may wear gloves when collecting the books, mask and face shield may be worn whilst marking with hand sanitising between books.

Each learning centre will need to develop guideline specific to their needs and circumstance. Till next week stay safe.

Contact Dr T Simango on [email protected], for more articles visit www.9thavenuesurgery.co.zw.