24 cases of “Corona” turn the school into “distance education”

Requiring private schools to form teams in response to the developments of “Covid-19”

The Department of Education and Knowledge identified three cases for transferring private school students from traditional education to distance education, including transferring one classroom to distance education, in the event that two injuries were recorded among its students, or transferring the entire large study group if eight cases were registered, or transferring the school Fully for distance education in the event of recording 24 cases of “Corona”, and private schools were obligated to form teams in response to the developments of the “Covid-19” virus.

In detail, the department confirmed that schools may be temporarily closed, and switched to the distance education system, partial or complete, due to government directives, non-compliance, or due to an emergency accident (cases of infection with the Covid-19 virus, natural disasters, and others), noting He indicated that when cases of infection with the Covid-19 virus are detected, the school must switch to the distance education system, partial or complete, based on the closure criteria.

The department explained that the school’s registration of two infected cases in the classroom requires the class to be transferred to the distance education system, and in the event that four classes in the large school group are transferred to the distance education system, or eight cases of “Covid-19” infection are recorded in one of the large groups, it must Converting the group to the distance education system, in addition to converting three large groups to the distance education model, or registering 24 cases of “Corona” virus infection in the school, which entails converting the school to the distance education system.

The department obligated each school to form a team in response to the developments of the “Covid-19” virus, consisting of the team leader (the principal or deputy principal), and the “first responder” (a person from the trained medical staff or a health care provider, and most likely the school nurse).

This person must be present in the school building during the entire school day, to provide the necessary care to students in emergency situations, manage incidents related to “Covid-19”, and refer them to the competent authorities if necessary, and the third person is the “school facilities supervisor”, ( The person responsible for managing/sterilizing the school, and responsible for the movements of members/staff/students and the use of facilities in the school building.

The response team also includes a “contact case tracking supervisor”, who is responsible for reviewing employee and student attendance records in the event that a student or a member of the work team is infected with the “Covid-19” virus.

This person identifies and records the group of people who may have been in contact with the infected person.

Members specialized in tracking cases of contact must provide the necessary support to this person.

The team also includes the "Covid-19" case coordinator, who is responsible for communicating with staff and parents, and the Department of Education and Knowledge on any incident related to "Covid-19" in the school.

The department stressed the need for each school to establish a “medical stone” isolation room in - or next to - the school clinic, and to equip it according to the approved specifications for use in cases of suspected infection in any of the faculty members or students, noting that if the isolation room is outside the school clinic. Therefore, the necessary precautionary measures must be observed when moving from it to the isolation room, “adhering to the standards of physical distancing and wearing masks.”

And she stressed the presence of a specialized nurse in the school clinic, to take the necessary preventive measures for suspected cases, and to inform the competent authorities.

The quarantine room must be well ventilated, and it has a private bathroom equipped with a toilet and hand-washing facilities.

The department indicated that if the school receives male and female students in the second and third cycles, separate spaces must be provided for each of them, containing two quarantine rooms, each attached to a private bathroom, pointing out that the isolation rooms must contain basic supplies such as equipment. Personal protective equipment, including medical masks, long-sleeved gloves and apron for single use.

And the provision of (N95) masks for the school nurse, to be used when dealing with cases of suspected infection or infection with the “Covid-19” virus.

The department stressed that the school is not allowed to give or supervise the intake of any medications to alleviate the symptoms of “Covid-19” without the consent of the guardian of the injured student, unless this is for the purpose of saving his life or for extreme necessity, noting that if the school uses medicines or tools To deal with medical emergencies, they must ensure that the student's guardian agrees first, and provide treatment only through a trained medical professional, and at the responsibility of the private school.

The department allowed schools to give paracetamol to reduce the temperature, if the guardian will take a long time, and if the student suffers from shortness of breath, he can be given low-flow oxygen until he is transferred to the hospital.

The department warned schools against trying, under any circumstances, to manage any of the cases of “Covid-19” alone, and in the event of the patient’s condition deteriorating, and the need to provide emergency services, the medical specialist must follow the current procedures to deal with medical emergencies, noting the need to transfer the student. Anyone who shows symptoms of “Corona” should be taken to the quarantine room, and inform the guardian to take him as soon as possible, and if the suspect is a school employee, he must follow the instructions of the medical specialist.

The department stressed that, in accordance with civil defense laws and procedures, it is necessary to ensure that the roads leading to the exits are vacant at all times, to allow immediate evacuation, and must be free of obstacles, and used only in the event of a fire or emergency situations, in addition to observing the procedures Physical distancing when developing emergency plans, to ensure the safe evacuation of students, noting that the school will be contacted later in the event of any change to the usual emergency training (such as fire, earthquake and evacuation cases), in coordination with the General Department of Civil Defense in Abu Dhabi.

Incident management in schools

The Department of Education and Knowledge confirmed that in the event of an accident related to “Covid-19”, and the student suffers from symptoms, his teacher must inform the leader of the “response team” immediately, provide the student with a medical mask, if he is able to bear wearing it, and transfer him to the quarantine room. Health care, while maintaining a distance of two meters, and making sure that the student does not touch frequently used surfaces such as door handles, handrails, etc., and cleaning and disinfecting the classroom completely, especially the seat of the injured student and his personal belongings, in addition to communicating with his guardian to receive him immediately, and take him home. or hospital.

In the event that a positive result of the “Covid-19” examination appears for a student or employee at the school, or he is suspected of being infected, or it is proven that he has been in contact with an infected case, the response team must immediately start following the appropriate protocol for the case, and ensure that all school staff and members of the response team are aware of the requirements and regulations, and understand the procedures required to deal with any positive or suspected case.

8 injuries transform the large group to distance education.

• “The school’s registration of two infected cases in the classroom requires the entire class to be transferred to the distance education system.”

• “The school is not allowed to give any medications to relieve the symptoms of (Covid-19) without the consent of the guardian of the affected student.”

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