The government of Bekasi district, West Java, has said it is planning to evaluate the implementation of face-to-face or offline learning in response to dozens of students testing positive for COVID-19.

“We will discuss the continuation of face-to-face learning in each school as part of the evaluation. From the reports we received, 45 students have tested positive for COVID-19, not including the two students of South Tambun 6 State Senior High School,” spokesperson for the Bekasi district COVID-19 Task Force Alamsyah said here on Tuesday.

The students were most likely exposed to the virus outside school and not when they participated in face-to-face learning, he added.

“They got infected outside of school. Thus, (they got infected) when they were doing activities outside with their parents or other activities, not during face-to-face learning,” he remarked.

The spokesperson confirmed that he had scheduled a coordination meeting with officials to anticipate a spike in COVID-19 cases in the district.

He deemed that fast handling is necessary to determine the status of public activity restrictions (PPKM) in Bekasi district, which is currently still at Level 2.

Regions implementing Level 2 PPKM are still allowed to implement limited face-to-face learning in schools, he noted.

“Based on the Joint Decree of the four ministers, it is still possible to implement face-to-face learning in regions with Level 2 PPKM. Until today, there has been no policy to close schools. Later, we will have a meeting with the Central Task Force regarding the level; then, we will evaluate face-to-face learning,” he informed.

He asserted that the task force is currently intensifying tracing, testing, and treatment efforts in schools that have recorded COVID-19 infections.

“If there are cases like this, we will conduct contact tracing, then conduct testing massively in order to minimize COVID-19 transmission at schools during face-to-face learning,” he affirmed.

Source: Antara News