By: Ismail)*
The government is trying hard to avoid new Covid-19 clusters during face-to-face learning. Health protocols are also strictly maintained, so it is hoped that it can reduce the potential transmission of the Corona virus.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, schoolchildren have gone online and for more than a year they have been doing distance learning. Online schools are the choice due to the rise of Covid cases in Indonesia. However, after the number of corona patients dropped dramatically, the government finally allowed students to go to offline school again, although with many conditions.
Teachers must have been vaccinated against the corona virus so as to minimize transmission, and they have been a priority since the start of the national vaccination program in Indonesia. Teachers are prioritized because they work in the public sector and meet a lot of people. If the teacher is healthy, the students will automatically be healthy and no new clusters will be formed.
Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that there is a strategy to optimize the prevention of corona clusters in schools, by means of active case finding. At the district/city level, it is calculated how many schools hold face-to-face learning (PTM), then 10% is taken for sampling, and the allocation is divided by sub-district.
Allocations based on sub-districts were made because according to epidemic experts, corona transmission has the potential to occur between sub-districts. Therefore, the epidemiological area in the sub-district must be strictly guarded. Then the government held a PCR test for 30 minutes and 3 teachers in 1 school. If the result is below 1%, it is declared safe and can hold PTM, unless there are Covid patients in the class.
Minister Budi added, if the results are 1-5%, then a test will be held for all students at the school and those who are positive for Covid must return to study at home, while those who are healthy (and not in the same class as the patient) may go to PTM. Meanwhile, if the PCR test results are more than 5%, then all must fully study online for 14 days.
This strategy is considered more effective because it only tests samples (at an early stage) so that it speeds up the results to come out. In addition, the students will not be afraid because not all of them are required for the PCR test, if the result is below 1%. Testing is very important because some of them have not been vaccinated against the corona virus, because they are not yet 12 years old.
In addition to PCR testing, the government has also tightened health protocols in schools. First, the building must be sterilized before students enter it, and school sanitation must also be considered. The reason is that keeping the environment clean is one of the points of the 10M health protocol.
In addition, students are required to wear masks of up to 2 layers (disposable masks and cloth masks), to strengthen filtration, especially since the delta variant corona is more virulent and contagious when it comes to covid patients. They should also wash their hands with antiseptic soap and carry hand sanitizer.
Students are also required to keep their distance and not create crowds, therefore they only enter 3 times a week, because a maximum of 50% of the class content is allowed to enter. If there is a maximum capacity then there can be distance between students. They are also required to bring supplies to make it more hygienic and prevent gangs when buying snacks in the canteen.
Prevention of corona must be done in schools, so as not to trigger new covid clusters. Everyone must comply with health protocols to be safe and not infected. Teachers must remind their students to stay disciplined and not in groups, and not to take off their masks in schools.
)* The author is a contributor to the Press Circle and Cikini Students
