Havana, Cuba.- Cuban authorities are working hard so that all schools in the country continue to be healthy and safe places, despite the COVID-19, the head of the School Health Department at the Ministry of Education (MINED), Yanira Gomez, said on Friday.
In statements to Cuban television, she explained that her department has its own national action plan to combat the new coronavirus, which has infected four people in Cuba so far.
She underlined that among those measures, training the personnel at schools and the students’ families is fundamental, so lectures are being held to explain the measures to be taken, as well as media campaigns to keep people informed.
The MINED official pointed out that boarding school students are tested at the places where they gather to depart for school, and if they show any symptoms, they are isolated and their families are notified.
Gomez noted that in no case, students suspected of being infected will be allowed to leave the school without a relative, and the same measure will be implemented in all schools of the country, where students with possible symptoms will be followed up, and those suffering from a cold or flu will not allowed to attend classes, as has always been the case.
She underlined that the country did everything possible to guarantee cleaning products, especially sodium hypochlorite, in all schools nationwide.
It is very difficult to guarantee all cleaning resources required in our institutions, but conditions have to be created, alternatives have to be sought, so that our students can disinfect themselves and wash their hands, one of the key measures to prevent contagion, Gomez pointed out.
She insisted on the role of the family, who is ‘our main ally’, because it is fundamental in the permanent surveillance, in the necessary alert, in keeping us informed, in watching their children, she said.
The official added that the MINED has its own temporary working group to control the plan of measures, whose implementation is reviewed every day with educational authorities in all provinces of the country.
We want our schools to continue to be safe spaces and for that we count on the support from our workers and Cuban families, the head of the School Health Department of MINED noted.