4 students at President’s College test positive for COVID-19 upon return to school

Four students who returned to their dorms at President’s College at Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara, have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). All four of them are from Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). The students were only tested for the virus upon their arrival at the school.
During a press conference on Monday, Education Minister Priya Manickchand provided an update on the situation, pointing out that the first batch of students was tested upon entry into the school.
“From the first batch, four of those children are positive. That was a batch that came from a specific community. Today [Monday] we received results again for the wider population of students that came from all over the country and four more are positive,” the Minister said.
Additionally, she pointed out that for all the schools that have dorms, returning students will be tested “because it makes sense to test them.” Manickchand explained, “In dorms, students interact a little bit more with each other than in the regular classroom. So, we are testing with the consent of parents, of course. Once we test the 5000 dorm students you will see positive persons.”
According to her, once students are found to be positive for COVID-19, the Health Ministry will step in. She explained that like in any normal case, students will be given the option to isolate at home or to go into institutional care. The Minister assured that all systems were put in place to ensure students are safe upon their return to the classrooms on Monday.
The Education Minister was asked why the tests were not done on students from outlying regions prior to them coming into dorm schools in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and in response, she said, “medical personnel wants to know where exactly the students are after they are tested so to prevent any kind of contamination after a test. So, you do not want to test someone and not be sure of where they are exactly because we have no facilities to keep them. Then have them go back home where they can be reinfected. You get a negative test and then the student comes in the school and we didn’t know they were infected between the time they were tested and the time they went home.”
According to the Education Minister, it would not have been wise to test all students who are returning to school for COVID-19. “If we are to test all the students coming back in given the large number, we will find persons who are positive. The science, across the world, says that generally in children and young adults the symptoms are very mild if any are detected at all.”
Meanwhile, Education advisor at the Education Ministry, Olato Sam noted that it is critical that students return to school. He added, “The world is not waiting for anyone. And we have recognised that. If you look at universities abroad, schools in Jamaica, Barbados, they have gone ahead with the phased reopening.”
He noted, too, that the approach adopted by Guyana’s Education Ministry has not been “plucked out of the air”.
Sam continued, “We took into consideration what UNICEF and UNESCO have been saying, what some other sister states in the Caribbean have been saying. It is a process. We will watch and we will learn… we cannot stay in seclusion for the rest of our lives. This thing [COVID-19] is with us. So, what we have to do is strategise and plan to deliver quality education which is in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.”