WITH the resumption of face-to-face (F2F) classes in all public schools in Davao City, the Covid-19 Task Force is intensifying the school-based vaccination to prevent the possible surge of cases.
Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a radio interview on Wednesday, August 24, that some students are not keen on adhering to the minimum public health standards, particularly the mandatory wearing of face masks.
“Mao ni ako ginaingon… na these are the age group, especially atong elementary, na wala gyud sila pakialam sa pag-wear og face mask. (This is what I am telling you… these are the age groups, especially those from the elementary, who do not care on the wearing of face mask.) They don’t even understand why they are wearing face mask, and unsa ang (what are its) benefits ,” Schlosser said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
With this, she renewed her call among parents to have their children vaccinated against Covid-19.
The health official bared that the vaccination rollout for the five to 11 years old turned out to be most challenging.
“We are intensifying the school-based vaccination pero ang atong dilemma sa atong vaccination team if dili mu-avail ang mga parents. At the end of the day, dili mahitabo ang bakuna kung wala’y consent sa parents (We are intensifying the school-based vaccination but the dilemma of our vaccination team is if parents refuse to have their children vaccinated. At the end of the day, no vaccination will happen if there is no consent from the parents),” Schlosser said.
She also reminded parents to instill the importance of wearing face masks to their children to prevent the transmission of the virus.
The spokesperson said personnel from the Safety and Security Cluster are deployed in the city’s schools and are strictly implementing the wearing of face masks as they continue to heighten monitoring of the Covid-19 cases in the city.
She also urged teaching and non-teaching personnel to make sure their learners or students wear face masks inside their classrooms and schools.
Department of Education-Davao Region (DepEd-Davao) spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said in a virtual presser on the same day that their office is in accordance with the guidelines set by the Department of Health, in terms of the conduct of the F2F classes.
In addition to the health reminders, Atillo said that students during lunch break should not be facing each other to avoid the possible transmission of droplets.
“They must only face in one direction, with their mask off kay magkaon man (because they are eating). Also, no talking,” he said.
Atillo said that Vice President Sara Duterte ordered that schools should have “control infection plan” and “containment strategy” to be implemented in times of possible surge of cases in schools.
“We’re actually preparing for the worst case scenario… In the event there is a surge, God forbid, we are ready with all the health protocols and control infection plan,” the official said.
This is also the same strategy for Monkeypox.
DepEd-Davao reported that a total of 1,274,784 students, both public and private institutions from kindergarten to senior high school, had enrolled for the school year 2022-2023.
On Monday, August 22, the country had its first F2F classes after two years; it was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. RGL
