Jakarta (ANTARA) – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has instructed that if the COVID-19 positivity rate in a school reaches more than five percent, face-to-face learning activities (PTM) be temporarily stopped.
“The school will be closed for two weeks, while the school board improves the enforcement of the health protocols,” he stated at a virtual press conference here on Monday.
Meanwhile, if the positivity rate in a school is between one to five percent, students in the same class as the patients will be required to conduct self-isolation, the minister said.
Meanwhile, other classes with no COVID-19 cases will be allowed to continue with PTM, he added. However, if the positivity rate is below 1 percent, only infected students or teachers and their close contacts will be required to undergo self-quarantine, Sadikin said.
“By implementing the regulation, it is expected that we can identify early if any of our students are infected by the pandemic. Do not wait until the virus transmission becomes massive,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, he said that the government will continue to oversee the face-to-face learning process with proper surveillance and health protocols.
“It is because we consider that Indonesian students have to learn in schools as soon as possible, thus they will not lose the opportunity to improve their knowledge directly with their teachers,” he added. Hence, the government will carry out random surveillance in 10 percent of schools conducting PTM in one district or city, the minister informed.
At the schools, the government will take samples from 30 students and three teachers, he said.
Furthermore, the method has begun to be implemented in schools in Jakarta, he added.
“In fact, we still found some positive cases among the students in Jakarta,” he noted.
Thus, the ministry will cooperate with the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry to improve the quality of the surveillance method, he said.
Source: Antara News