Karnataka COVID-19 panel recommends opening all schools on priority

While recommending reopening of all schools- both government and private- the committee headed by Dr Devi Shetty has also said that COVID-19 health insurance up to Rs 2 lakhs should be given to all children attending school.
Staff member checking temperature of a girl student in a school
Staff member checking temperature of a girl student in a school
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The expert committee constituted by the Karnataka government to suggest measures to handle the third wave of the coronavirus has recommended reopening of schools - both government and private - in the state. In its report, the committee has said, “Any further delay in school reopening may push children into malnutrition, child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, begging etc., making their condition further worse,” and has detailed precautionary measures ahead of reopening of schools. The 13-member committee, headed by Dr Devi Shetty, submitted its interim report to the Karnataka Chief Minister on Tuesday.

“There is an urgent need to offer scientific and definitive guidance for school reopening as any delay in achieving near normalization of schooling will be more detrimental than the COVID-19 itself,” the report read, urging for schools, colleges to be opened between the second and third wave. Justifying its recommendation, the committee has said it is highly unlikely that the third wave will predominantly or exclusively affect children. “Almost 90% of infections in children are mild or asymptomatic and incidence of severe disease is not high in children,” the committee said.

It has also been recommended that the state government should provide COVID-19 health insurance up to Rs 2 lakh to all children attending school physically. It adds that staff of both government and private schools should be considered 'Corona Warriors' and insurance facilities should be extended to them. Ring immunization of all adults around children including parents and family members, school staff, transport vehicle staff, boarding staff should be done on war footing before the reopening of schools.

The expert committee has based its suggestion on the Indian Academy of Paediatrics and American Academy of Paediatrics’s recommendation of reopening of schools at the earliest in areas where the community transmission is low. It says that current data indicates that children and adolescents are less susceptible to COVID-19 than adults and do not appear to significantly drive transmission to adults.

The committee says the decision to open schools physically need not be postponed as “most children will be mildly symptomatic and as most adults have already suffered or vaccinated or possibly get exposed to disease even otherwise, the transmission risk from child to adult has least significance quantitatively. The possibility of schools being areas of large transmission has not been proved anywhere in the world.”

Vaccination of teachers and other staff members, and people around school and college-going children, including parents and transport staff and also students above 18 years can get vaccination at the earliest. This will reduce even minimum transmission in schools and colleges, says the report of the expert committee.

Schools in most districts where the positivity rate due to the second wave has declined to below 5% for the preceding two weeks can be opened with adequate measures, the committee has recommended to the Chief Minister. Here are the precautionary steps suggested for the reopening of schools: 

Staggered reopening 

—  School should open in batches with older students joining first. 

— If there are space constraints the students should be divided and called in different batches, in different shifts alternate days and in staggered times.

Social distancing, ventilation 

— A distance of at least 1 meter should be strictly maintained between any two individuals in the school premises.

— Visitors should be restricted. 

— Communication with parents should be carried out digitally.

— Outdoor spaces like school grounds should preferably be utilized to conduct classes

— The classrooms should be kept ventilated by opening the doors and windows and air conditioners should be put off.

— The school administration should designate responsible staff members(s) to define and execute standard opening protocols in consultation with SDMC / Members, keeping in tandem with the local administration guidelines. 

— Adequate staff including a counsellor and a medical nurse should be recruited. Staff above 60 and those with comorbidities should be adjusted in work from home mode. 

Individual hygiene 

— Children should bring minimal commodities like stationary, wristwatches, mobiles etc. and be discouraged from sharing the same.

— Three layered cotton masks should be compulsory for all students, teachers, all school employees and visitors. 

— Mask donning and doffing and other mask manners should be thoroughly taught to all staff members and students.

—  Children below five should be assisted and watched carefully (for breathing difficulties) while using masks. 

Testing

— Those with body temperature raised beyond 37.3°C or 99.40 or those who report a history of fever or ‘feeling feverish’ in the previous 24 hours should be denied entry in the school and referred for medical care.

— If some student or employee falls ill during school time, he/she should be isolated in the sick room having support staff equipped with adequate PPE. 

— The testing for COVID-19 should be undertaken in every suspected individual who has attended the school. like one who is suffering from the classical symptoms of fever, cough and breathlessness, a close contact of a positive case, or fitting in any other criteria as per the norms laid down by the local health authority. 

 — Should a student / staff / visitor be positive for SARS-COV-2, the government authorities should be informed, and he be asked to stay away from school for at least 14 days. 

 — Resuming the school should necessitate a fitness certificate from a registered practitioner

 — The school officials should extend full cooperation to the Government protocols like contact tracing, testing, isolation, disinfection etc

Curriculum 

— The policy should mandatorily include redressing the curriculum.

— Curtailing the school hours, staggering the students and disinfection and hygiene protocols. 

— The school reopening should mainly aim for school connectedness, psychosocial well-being and stress-free learning of the children. 

— All government and aided schools shall be prepared to accept at least 10% increase in admissions as many children may shift from private to government due to economic constraints

Decentralised decision making

— All decisions about reopening of the schools should be decentralized and should be taken by the local authorities at district, taluka and village levels through SDMC (School Development and Monitoring Committee) as per the broader guidelines laid down by the government. 

— The modalities can be fine tuned to meet the demands of various schools by local authorities. 

— All government and aided schools in rural areas, smaller towns and bigger towns to be opened as most schools under government sector have no space constraints to follow standard operating protocols as per SMS and ventilation requirements.

While several states have predicted that the third wave might hit sooner than September-October as initially expected, the expert’s committee has not given a particular time as to when it could impact Karnataka. A senior member of the panel who spoke to TNM said that experts believe that July-August could be a realistic time for the third wave to impact the state given that most businesses have already opened as part of unlock. The member also said that most recommendations given by the committee are keeping long-term health care infrastructure in mind.

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