Covid-19 cases in Thakurgaon school a cause for concern

It is a cause for concern that five students of a government primary school in Thakurgaon town have tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks after schools reopened in the country. Since the students who have contracted the virus are of Grade IV and V, the school authorities have suspended the classes of those grades temporarily. Reportedly, all the five students live in an orphanage run by the government. According to the deputy administrator of the orphanage, on September 17, only one child of the orphanage had fever and cold and the five students of the primary school developed symptoms later. Until now, the orphanage authorities have sent the samples of 25 girls for Covid testing and 13 of them came out positive, including the five students of the primary school. It is, however, reassuring to learn that the 13 girls are being treated in the isolation ward of the local government hospital and are doing well now.

So far, we haven't learnt of any other instances of the spread of Covid-19 in our schools besides this one in Thakurgaon. We hope other schools will take note of this case and remain ever alert to avoid the spread of the virus in their institutions.

In this case, we hope the orphanage authorities will remain alert since there could be more cases in the coming days. Each and every child of the orphanage with the slightest of symptoms must be kept in isolation and get tested. The school authorities also have a lot of responsibilities here. They need to strictly maintain the health safety guidelines, such as making sure that all the students wear masks and wash their hands at regular intervals. However, we know that keeping a safe distance is really difficult in our primary schools where many students have to sit in close proximity to each other. Even then, the school authorities must try to find a way so that students can maintain at least some distance from each other. Moreover, they need to make the guardians aware of the health guidelines and Covid risks their children might be exposed to. Similarly, guardians should never hide the truth about their children's health conditions and should report to the school and keep their children isolated if they suffer from any Covid-19 symptoms. Only awareness can make a lot of difference in keeping our children safe at school during this pandemic.