SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 4 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands has informed the educational centers of the islands of the measures included in the new surveillance and control strategy against COVID-19 after the acute phase of the pandemic.
Thus, although changes are contemplated, the mandatory use of masks inside buildings, hand hygiene and ventilation is maintained as they are measures “that have given very good results in containing the spread of the virus. “.
On the contrary, quarantines and isolations are eliminated in non-vulnerable asymptomatic cases, and it is recommended that people with symptoms do not go to the educational center.
In addition, vulnerable population is considered to be people over 60 years of age, pregnant and immunosuppressed with clear and well-defined pathologies by the Ministry of Health.
Only Special Education Centers (CEE) that have a school residence will continue to be considered vulnerable environments, which will be considered as social health centers and for which information will continue to be sent to Public Health.
In the archipelago, the CEE ‘Siete Palmas’ and ‘Hermano Pedro’ and their school residences receive this qualification.
On the other hand, confirmed cases must take extreme precautions and reduce social interactions as much as possible, in addition to constantly using the mask and maintaining adequate hand hygiene during the 10 days after the onset of symptoms or diagnosis in the case. of asymptomatic people.
Likewise, contact with vulnerable people and participation in mass events will be especially avoided.
People who work in vulnerable areas and workers who provide support and care to vulnerable people will not go to their workplace during the first five days from the onset of symptoms or from the date of diagnosis in the case of asymptomatic people. and whenever possible, and in case it is not susceptible to temporary disability, teleworking is recommended, the Ministry of Education points out in a note.
After this time, and provided that 24 hours have elapsed after the disappearance of the fever or the symptoms have improved, an antigen test will be carried out and if the result is negative, the person may return to their workplace.
If the result is positive, it may be repeated every 24 hours until a negative result is obtained in order to be able to return to your workplace.
THERE WILL BE NO TESTS FOR SYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS
In addition, diagnostic tests for active infection will not be carried out in symptomatic patients, except for the exceptions contemplated for vulnerable environments or patients or severity of the clinical picture, and attendance at the educational center is not recommended when students present symptoms compatible with COVID-19 or illnesses. acute infectious.
The document warns that it is foreseeable that the ‘Ómicron’ variant will not be the last of SARSCoV-2 that may cause concern, so during this transitional phase the extraordinary surveillance and control structures developed during the pandemic must be preserved and ensure that they could be reactivated if necessary, so it is important to bear in mind the reversibility of the strategy in the event of a worse evolution of the indicators or due to the appearance of new variants.
It is also specified that the closure of any educational center is not contemplated, and consequently, it is no longer necessary to control the cases or send this data to Public Health or to the statistics service of the Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture. and Sports, as well as the data of outbreaks identified with more than five cases or 20% in a group-classroom.
The Ministry also warns that in the educational field no action or specific measures will be established aimed at cases or contacts other than those defined in the ‘Surveillance and control strategy against COVID-19 after the acute phase of the pandemic’ prepared by the Ministry of Health, which must also update the organizational aspects of educational centers described in the ‘Document on prevention and hygiene measures in educational centers’.
