But the 5 total cases at the two schools seems to not have spread beyond that - for now at least. According to the Minister of Education, the testing continues and those who are positive remain isolated. He gave us an update today:
Hon Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"The update I have really is that in terms of Queen Square, one teacher tested positive. All of the other teachers at the school have been tested as well as the students who came into contact with that particular teacher. Everyone has tested negative, that teacher is in isolation but as I understand it what has been done is the rapid test, so the rapid test has come back positive, the PCR test has been taken but the results re still pending. I think they expect to get that PCR test sometime today. I think it's important for the public to understand that that teacher just as is the case with Wesley Primary School, the contact tracing established that that was linked to the Princess Casino outbreak, the teacher has a relative who works there. In the case of Wesley Primary School, the lower division, there were four students who tested positive, I think ranging in ages rom age 12, 10, 8 and 7. As I understand it, the 7 year old student is the only one who has exhibited some mild symptoms. The others are asymptomatic. Again there, the students have all been isolated. Again, all of their classmates have been tested, all of the teachers at Wesley Primary School has been tested."
The Minister is also not too worried that other schools and students will be affected since he said that out of 352 schools approved for opening, only two have seen positive cases. He added that once that protocols are adhered to, the phased reopening of schools can continue safely.
Hon Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"As you all know, we have reported that some 352 schools have been given the greenlight to return to face to face instruction, so we have to keep this in context that what we have is an outbreak as a result of what took place in the Princess Casino affecting two schools in Belize City. Any outbreak is cause for concern and we are concerned and we're following it closely. But we want to make sure that we assure the public and assure our parents and our students in particular that we are confident that schools remain safe as long as the protocols are adhered to. We have isolation room sin the school, we have a notification system in place so that both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education are informed as soon as there are any suspected cases of COVID. And I join the principals of these two school, we join in urging parents, we all have to be responsible in these cases. If you have tested positive or someone you know has tested positive, err on the side of caution, don't send your kids to school. I think that was a weakness and breakdown in the case of these particular schools. Those students should have never gone to school, I think in one case, I think it was only in the case of Wesley that I think one or two of the students actually went to school. That should not have happened."
