A total of 1.8 million students returned to public schools this Monday, January 24, without the Ministry of Health (Minsa) or the Ministry of Education (Mined) publishing a biosafety protocol in the face of the latent risk of a third wave of infections of covid-19, triggered by the relaxation of prevention measures last December and by the circulation of omicron in neighboring countries.
Independent doctors warned that schools, students, teachers and parents must comply with strict infection prevention protocols to avoid an escalation of infections. At the beginning of 2022, medical sources confirmed new cases in family groups. The symptoms were mild and associated with the new omicron variant. However, the doctors assure that the Minsa is the only one that can confirm it based on genomic surveillance and so far it has not done so.
Epidemiologist Leonel Argüello recommends that a minimum distance of two meters be guaranteed in schools, classrooms must be ventilated and have educational material on the prevention of covid-19. In addition, he reiterated that the use of a mask and hand washing must be essential for anyone who enters the place. But this Monday, in several schools in the country, an agglomeration of students and parents was observed.
In her inaugural speech for the 2022 school year, the Minister of Education, Liliam Herrera, did not refer to the educational challenge that this return to classes implies in the midst of a possible rebound in coronavirus cases. He highlighted the commitment of the teaching profession in the training of minors, and applying the Government’s propaganda script, assured that they will “follow the path and path of peace, unity, fraternity to develop the human being and the fundamental mission is to eradicate poverty in our territory,” he said.
After a tour with the advisor on education issues, Salvador Vanegas, and other educational authorities at the Francisco Luis Espinoza National Institute, in Estelí, where the school year was inaugurated, he assured that the installation of the biosafety protocol is being guaranteed in schools and taking care of the health of the students, without giving further details.
In practice, teachers have previously and anonymously assured that as the school year progresses, biosecurity standards become lax and there are schools where they simply cannot be met because they have long-standing deficiencies: limited access to drinking water, or else, the student population exceeds 30 students per classroom, which makes it impossible to guarantee the distance required to avoid contagion.
Until this Monday, health authorities have only carried out epidemiological sessions in schools in Managua, which consisted of the application of Biorat, BTI, fumigation and supervision of water quality.
Suspend face-to-face classes before a possible new wave?
From Argüello’s perspective, it is not advisable to completely suspend face-to-face classes for the children’s well-being. Experiences in other countries have shown that school closures affect minors. However, he indicates that it is advisable to apply the biosafety protocol and treat infections by groups, unless the cases appear in all the classrooms of the same center, “the school would have to be closed there,” he says.
If a child has flu-like symptoms or general health ailments, it is best to stay home. If you were the teacher, in addition to resting, you should notify the authorities to prevent infecting the rest of the staff and students.
“Your contacts, which is anyone who has been within 2 meters of each other for at least 15 minutes in 24 hours, should notify you to self-quarantine for 10 days. If the contact was in an open area or in a patio, quarantine is not necessary, ”explains the epidemiologist Argüello.
Ideally, if a teacher is sick, their class should quarantine for 20 days and have labs done. However, during these two years of the covid-19 pandemic, these protocols have worked more in private centers than in public centers. In 2021, the Mined tried to minimize infections in teachers, treating them like flu pictures, they gave them seven-day subsidies; they were incorporated with the uncertainty of having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or not.
The Teachers’ Union Unit estimates that in 2020, 52 teachers with suspicious symptoms of covid-19 died.
Another of Argüello’s recommendations is that teachers have their complete vaccination schedule and booster dose. Likewise, they must set an example for schoolchildren, using the mask all the time and well adjusted.
Public school teachers entered on January 12 and during the training received prior to the start of the school year, in some cases, they were reminded of the use of a mask and alcohol gel. However, “they were not told they were going to take such measures if the students presented such symptoms, that was not, they did not say that, but rather quickly about the mask and the alcohol gel,” assured the USM
In other groups of teachers, the pandemic went completely unnoticed.
