Schools have been barely open for three weeks and already schools are turning into COVID-19 hotspots again. Boarding schools have seen a spike in the number of cases. it seems that while everywhere as the transmission is under control, in schools thanks to lax rules and the way students interact, cases are rising again. This was how we ended up with a third wave as cases spiralled out of control when schools eventually closed and students brought cases home with them. Spooked by this the Zimbabwean government has introduced some new measures.
These include:
- Enhancement of surveillance & contact tracing at schools& the surrounding communities
- Increasing on-site Covid-19 testing of all suspected cases, contacts &communities
- Isolation & management of all Covid-19 positive cases
- Quarantining of those exposed
- Restriction of movement into & out of the affected schools until the outbreaks have been controlled
- Enhancement of public health & social protocols, including social distancing, hand washing, sanitization &wearing of face masks
- Enhancement of awareness campaign in schools & surrounding communities
- Vaccination of eligible population in schools& surrounding communities
It’s going to be hard for these measures to be effective though because most schools are already failing to implement the measures that the government has already asked them to put in place. These new measures will mean extra costs and schools in most provinces are already battling to fund the old less strict measures.
