The Ministry of Education revealed that two public schools were closed on Monday over coronavirus concerns.
“I bring to the attention of the public that we would have closed, as of today, two schools, the two schools in Barbuda, because of a situation there”, Clare Browne, the Director of Education said on state media.
Browne also revealed that “one teacher on Barbuda and another teacher on Antigua” had tested positive for the coronavirus and were in isolation.
“The teacher on Antigua, that teacher was not in school for the last 14 days or so”, he added.
“We would have received, from the surveillance and epidemiological unit, this morning 11 names of students who are on quarantine”, Browne further revealed.
The number of students in quarantine reportedly increased to 14 later on Monday and included six students from Primary School, seven from Secondary School and one from the Antigua State College.
Minister of Education, Daryll Matthew said, at the time, the Ministry of Health did not report that any student had tested positive for the virus nor recommended closure of all schools.
He said the Ministry had the “support of the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers to keep schools open for the next 48 hours.”
However, he said the situation was fluid and could change at any moment.
“Forty-eight hours should take us to Wednesday, which is our regular Cabinet day, of which time the Cabinet will discuss in-depth with the Ministry of Health officials to see has the situation changed, has it gotten better has it gotten worse, does it remain the same and if so what decision do we take”, the Education Minister explained.
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
Covid is like HIV…you protect yourself you are fine. You don’t protect yourself then you will get caught!!!!
We all have to breathe.
We don’t have to have unprotected sex.
We rely on the government to protect the population by not letting in diseased people at the border.
Decisions must be made quickly to protect our people. The situation is evolving very rapidly. We do not want to get to the state of being overwhelmed by this situation.
Calling on the powers that be, to act quickly to avert a major crisis.
Greater preventative measures must be taken; especially at our borders to deal with this crisis.
Once again, I call on the government to implement the protocol for persons travelling into Antigua to have covid test results 72 hours prior to boarding the plane.
The sea ports must be monitored more vigorously.
This will only get worse in the short term.
WORLD “CRYSIS”: TIME TO ACT WISELY.
And close all schools for at least 2 weeks. Serious lockdown for 2-4 weeks.
Prophylaxis with ivermectin, vitamin D, zinc for everyone.
and when the borders reopen, be serious about not letting in diseased folks.
That means pre-arrival test no older than 72 hours, test on arrival at airport, quarantine all for 5 days, and test on day 5. If negative on day 5, then release from quarantine.
Test EVERYONE on arrival. Quarantine EVERYONE on arrival. No more discriminatory behavior with respect to nationals versus tourists.
I doubt schools will be closed. The tablets and laptops to facilitate e-learning have not being distributed…..i dont even know if they’ve been purchased! Not to mention the huge majority of students who are without internet access and therefore were at a major disadvantage when schools were closed last year.
The same effort we taking to secure money for vaccine and reefers to store said vaccines, why not secure some to purchase these devices in the event that school has to be closed down again??
Even if they don’t have laptops and internet for everyone.
Figure that out after everyone is home safely.
Send kids home with workbooks they can do on their own. Let them read books on their own.
It’s more important to stop the spread of the disease. The children will catch up on their education when this crisis is over.
Apparently some of you fail to understand what is a pandemic if a school have to close for 6 weeks or 6-months months because of a pandemic it’s to save lives it has nothing to do with economics or any type of wealth it’s to do with long-term health of a country some people go back to school at 50years old it only goes to show how important teachers are so u parent’s must be more sympathetic to the cause .
Which schools?
Contact tracing happening?
Year groups asked to stay home until tested neg?
Please, come to the media with your clear plan & current actions, then we the people will listen, parents & teaching colleagues will take appropriate action & non-impacted schools will tighten enforcement of their protocols. A win for everyone and yourself.
A ‘fluid & could change at any minute’ comment is not helpful but covers ineptitude should you need to call a schools closure in two toots.
The situation is fluid? Like how they say gender is fluid or like the singular of fluids?
The government does not have to close the school for responsible parents to keep their children at home to protect them.
What good is education to a dead child?
Why parents outsource their responsibility to the government? The government is usually associated with negative things, why trust them to look after your child.
Chew on that for a minute. Who has the authority you or the government and why?
Thank you!!!!! You can clearly see the Government is not being truthful. Your responsible for your child or children wellbeing….
your so true 100% some or most people believe the government must do everything for them.
Comments are closed.