So, since there is a community spread of the Delta Variant, the most contagious form of the COVID virus, will in-class instruction be possible on October 4th? The start of face-to-face learning was already postponed due to the pandemic, and we asked if the current public health risks will force another delay.
Dr. Diaz told us that at this time, it's too early to form that conclusion:
Reporter
"It seems as though the community spread of the delta virus is not slowing down. Will it be advisable to keep that first Monday in October deadline?"
Dr. Melissa Diaz - Deputy Regional Manager, Central Health Region
"Well, at this point, we are trying to do 2 great things. 1 is to roll out a successful campaign for the 12 to 17-year-olds to get vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. And the second is to control an outbreak that's occurring in parts of our country. It's too early for us to say, no, we will make changes to October 4th. The advice that we have given to the Ministry of Education is that when classes do resume, that we resume classes in a hybrid manner. So, it might not necessarily be 20 or 30 kids in a class every single day from 8 to 3. We may have changed, depending on the school. Different schools have submitted different plans, flexibility, 2 days online, 2 days in class. Some schools are talking about half-day for one set of kids half day in the afternoon for the other set, just to reduce, again, any crowding situations. Any person testing positive will only have a small number of persons to worry about, and it also allows the kids to be better spaced out in the classrooms."
"We are definitely - we feel very positive about the kids coming out for their vaccines. I think for the week and a half that we're doing Pfizer in the entire country, we have vaccinated - I would say - approximately 13,000 children already with the first dose. We expect, in 21 days, to do the second dose. We have had a lot of encouragement from teachers and principals in the schools. Everybody is working with the parents and guardians to get kids to come in."
