Two Bartica dorm students test positive for COVID-19

Nov 12, 2020 News

A classroom of returning students (Photo Credits: Ministry of Education)

Kaieteur News – Two students from school dormitories in Bartica have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. One student tested positive at the Three Miles Secondary School dormitory and the other at the Bartica Secondary School dormitory.
This was confirmed by the Regional Health Officer of Bartica, Dr. Edward Sagala, with this publication yesterday.
Kaieteur News understands that the students, aged 15 and 16, are imported cases of the virus since they are not from Bartica. They have since been in isolation, right at the dormitories which will last for 14 days, and are not allowed to attend classes. In addition to that, contact tracing has already begun to find and test persons that they might have come in contact with.
A total of 24 students were tested Monday and the results returned yesterday morning.
The testing of dormitory students began on Monday, where it was discovered that four students at the President’s College dormitory tested positive for the virus. All four of the students were transferred from the Kato Secondary School in Region Eight, an area that is a known COVID-19 hotspot. They were sent into isolation at the Liliendaal Infectious Disease Centre, better known as the Ocean View COVID-19 Hospital.
That number has since risen to eight students, but it is unclear where the rest of the cases came from.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, had told Kaieteur News that all students returning to school occupying dormitories will be mandated to take COVID-19 tests since the Ministry “must know their status.”
According to the Minister, it was necessary to test these students since they will be coming from all areas, including COVID-19 hotspots. She said that they would be interacting with other students in the dorms, so they needed to ensure everyone’s safety.
Manickchand had also said, “The reality is that, if we test a large enough number, some people will have a positive result because you are coming from all over this country that has positive cases and so they will be tested and quarantined for a bit.”
Additionally, the General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers Union, Coretta McDonald, recently contended that the reopening of schools was “reckless” and is putting the lives of students at risk.
Many parents and teachers shared the same contention, some parents even refusing to send their children to school and teachers sharing that they preferred teaching classes online.
Schools opened on Monday for Grades 10, 11, 12 and Technical and Vocational Education students.
This is in light of the upcoming 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) examinations which require face-to-face classes for the completion of School-Based Assessments and Internal Assessments, according to the Ministry.

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