“Omicron Wave infected almost everyone in the past two months. Currently, we will have a very miniscule population susceptible to infection,” doctor said.
Srinagar: With most schools reopening for students of every age from March 2, doctors in Kashmir share their insights on the pandemic, infection control and the transition to offline mode of education.
After two and a half years, schools in Kashmir are opening up for students from March 2. Most schools have announced schedules for resumption of offline classes.
This transition, doctors feel, needs to be smooth for the children. At the same time, there is a need to ensure zero infection spread, which is possible through proper protocols. Prof Parvaiz A Koul, Director SKIMS Soura and influenza expert said that over the years it was amply clear that COVID19 spread more in congregations.
“We need to ensure distance in classrooms, during lunch breaks, while traveling to and from the schools,” he said. He advised that schools need to incorporate a methodology where teaching is taken out of the classroom. “The weather is better now. And outsides are safer,” he said.
Prof Koul said that it was important that the entire staff of schools, including transporters, is vaccinated. “It also needs to be seen that a sick child or a sick staff member stays home till they are asymptomatic,” he said.
Prof S Saleem Khan, said the students, especially the younger ones have endured many hardships during the pandemic and the change to offline mode needs to be a compassionate one.
“My request to schools is that please do not make this transition from Detention Center to Concentration Camp,” he said on a lighter note, adding that for all children, the first day in school now, irrespective of age and class, would feel like the first day of school in life.
“We need to help the children adjust to classmates, friends and teachers,” he said. He further said that most children would be facing difficulty in getting off their gadgets. “Let them rejoice and rejoin for some time, before they are under the burden of assignments and exams,” he said.
Dr Rouf Hussain Rather, Epidemiologist at Divisional COVID19 Control Room Kashmir said the way the Third Wave panned has made the coming few months safest to resume activities, including schooling.
“Omicron Wave infected almost everyone in the past two months. Currently, we will have a very miniscule population susceptible to infection,” he said. Dr Rather said that Kashmir was showing “very low positivity” because there were “very few candidates for infection”.
“This is because we have seen a huge spike in the past month, giving some degree of immunity to almost everyone,” he said.
