And in education news, the Ministry of Education issued a release today giving an update on the status of schools since reopening on Monday.
569 schools, or 94%, have been approved to make the transition into hybrid learning. 343 schools, or 60.3%, have physically reopened their doors.
And since Monday, there have been media reports of COVID outbreaks in some schools.
The Ministry clarified this by saying that between January 10th and 12th, 108 teachers and 125 students have been diagnosed with COVID countrywide. However, only 17 of those teachers and 43 of those students were actually engaged in hybrid learning. That translated to only 1.04% of teachers and 0.25% of students who were actually in the classroom that have tested positive.
The ministry added that their information indicated that these cases are appearing in persons who had recently attended social functions, or are close contacts of individuals who have also contracted the virus – meaning that the cases recorded are not from any school activity.
Still, there are reports that students are being sent to school with flu-like symptoms. MOE is now appealing to parents, legal guardians, and caregivers to continue monitoring their children and to follow the guidelines for quarantine.
