Good Afternoon,
Today I would like to provide a brief update in terms of the processes in place at the Ministry of Health for when there is a potential COVID-19 exposure in a school setting.
First of all though, I would like to thank my team at the Ministry of Health who has been working diligently all weekend, following a well laid out plan to combat any possible outbreak.
The testing teams conducted 527 tests at Dellwood this weekend and 2,419 across all testing sites - an extraordinary effort. And the contact tracers have been no less busy; the way they have responded and kept us safe is well-known, recognized and appreciated.
I have heard many questions asked over the weekend as to why one school is asked quarantine while another is not, even though both schools may have some perceived COVID-19 risk.
To this, I would say that it is important to remember that we have to look at each situation uniquely. Circumstances and risk may be totally different – which can only be discovered through the contact tracing process. Contact tracing is rather like peeling back the layers of an onion...How deep we need to go depends on what we find as we peel back each layer.
The Department of Health continues to follow a thorough, comprehensive, data-driven, and scientific approach for contact tracing and making decisions around who is required to quarantine and who is not.
If there is a positive case involving a school setting, the Department of Health – led by the ESU – will physically go to the school and initiate a risk assessment, such as the one which concluded today at Clearwater Middle School. As part of the assessment, they will meet with school representatives, including the Principal, to determine the positive individual’s movements around the school, any interactions with others, mask wearing compliance, etc. If the individual is a student, they may ask questions about any extracurricular activities they have taken part in, which bathrooms they may have used and if their school bubbles have been kept separate from others. Often times, the Chief Medical Officer will call-in to the meeting so that his additional questions can be answered in real-time.
Following that questioning, we make a decision about the exposure risks and whether certain rooms have to be closed off and cleaned. We then contact the Department of Education’s Facility Manager and share our findings and organize cleaning crews.
Our risk assessment at Clearwater today determined that the whole school should be thoroughly cleaned including walls, floors, chairs, desks, bathrooms etc.
The Ministry of Health will contact anyone needing to be tested or quarantined. Like schools, people are unique too, with varying degrees of risk based on their potential exposures. So while one person may be contacted and told to test once, another person who works in the same place may be told to test four times and quarantine until Day 14 – it all depends on what the contact tracers find and what the perceived level of risk is for each person.
If you have not been contacted by the team, please do not rely on rumor, or social media to determine next steps. If you are in fact a close contact, you will be contacted by Health.
At this time, I would like to urge all students, teachers and parents to follow the recommended health procedures. This is not the time to be lax.
Parents - please remind your children to wear their masks, wash their hands often and practice physical distancing. We really need parents to be onboard for consistency; to reiterate our messaging.
I commend schools who are, for the most part, following public health guidance, even if it means getting creative: Some schools, for example, under Ministry of Health guidance, have implemented “breathing breaks” for their students which may involve every other row pulling their mask down under their chin for three minutes. Other schools permit what they are calling “brain breaks” which allow children to leave the classroom to go outside without masks to get fresh air, ensuring they are physically distanced. Some schools are even holding some of their classes outdoors, if the weather is fair.
Children and teachers should wear their masks when moving from the classroom to any shared space. Consider a school hallway as you would a grocery store, for example.
Parents and teachers please make sure that children do not bunch together in lines and that they do not touch one another’s faces.
I would like to remind members of the public that they can book an appointment for testing at: gov.bm/coronavirus-get-tested
I wish to close by saying that I have full confidence in our epidemiology and testing teams to evaluate the extent of any outbreak and ensure that it is contained.
Thank you.