Safety First for Schools
Wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.
We all know the regulations, but County Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Tiffany Hoyte, has urged the public to stick with them. She made the call during a joint media conference hosted by the Division of Education, Research and Technology and the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection on May 23rd. This is especially important for the health and safety of our children.
“If persons are ill, the responsible thing to do is [to] not come to school. Do not come to school, but you have to report it to your teacher or principal so that the necessary follow-up by [the Division of] Education’s Health Unit can be done,” Dr. Hoyte said.
Dr. Hoyte said the only way to confirm you have COVID-19 is to get tested.
Covid-19, however, is not the only challenge facing our students, according to Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, Dr. Faith B.Yisrael.
“We have a situation where we’ve had at least two confirmed cases of what is known as Mis-C, [which] refers to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Which in essence says, it is your systems, your respiratory system, your heart and your lungs, all these different parts of your body become inflamed,” Dr. B.Yisrael said.
“Usually Mis-C comes around a couple [of] weeks after the initial infection, so your child may have actually gotten COVID positive, may have recovered, you may not even have recognised that the child was COVID positive because of the period that it happened, but you’re realising now that your child is ill,” she said.
The Health Secretary has encouraged parents to pay particular attention to their children’s health, especially with their in-person return to schools.
Dr. B.Yisrael is asking parents to contact a doctor immediately if their child has an ongoing fever, accompanied by symptoms such as stomach pain, bloodshot eyes, diarrhea, dizziness, a skin rash or vomiting.
Parents are also being encouraged to vaccinate their children. The COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12-17 is available at the Roxborough, Scarborough, Canaan and Moriah Health Centres in Tobago.