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Teachers, students with comorbidities should be barred from F2F pilot testing — solon

September 28, 2021 Jester P. Manalastas 358 views

STUDENTS, teachers and school personnel with comorbidities should be barred from participating in the pilot run of face-to-face classes.

This was the suggestion of Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon as he urged the Department of Health to ensure all the safeguards against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Biazon expressed full support to DepEd’s initial policy of requiring all teaching and non-teaching staff who will participate in the pilot run of limited face-to-face classes to be fully vaccinated.

“I fully agree with the proposal to vaccinate teachers once the decision to commence face-to-face classes is implemented. We must ensure the safety of school children and exert efforts to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infections,” Biazon said.

“But in addition to vaccinations, we must also put into place measures that will address transmission in the schools,” he added.

Studies have shown that people with comorbidities are more likely to develop a more severe course and progression of the disease and are therefore at higher risk than people with no comorbidity to COVID.

Another proposal of Biazon is to augment schools with medical personnel who will look out for signs and symptoms of infection among students and school staff.

“This is crucial as early detection is key to containing the spread of the disease,” he stressed.

The medical personnel would also attend to those who may need to be immediately isolated if symptoms are detected, the lawmaker added.

“And speaking of isolating symptomatic students and staff, isolation facilities needed to house patients awaiting transfer out of the schools should also be prepared,” he said.

The Muntinlupa lawmaker noted rooms or buildings may need to be converted as quarantine facilities, while some schools may also need to be reconfigured or retrofitted to provide adequate ventilation and air circulation in the classrooms.