SECONDARY school students all over the country should regularly test in case if there is any COVID-19 patient in their house.
That’s the instructions from Cheshire West and Chester Council’s general health service, considering the national guidance and increasing infection level.
They also want the primary school pupil’s parents and caretakers to take these recommendations seriously.
For almost a week up to October 13, the pandemic rate in Cheshire West and Chester was high, i.e., 528 per 100,000 in contrast to England, where this rate is 424 per 100,000.
The people between 10-19 ages were most affected. The rate is 1,680 cases per 100,000, in contrast to the UK average of 1,256 of 100,000.
Considering the surprisingly high rates, the council continually guides the citizens to follow the preventive measures strictly. These instructions are following:
Cover the face properly, ensure social distancing, wash hands frequently, stop socializing, go for routine testing, and get vaccine doses without any delay.
Council chairman Louise Gittins remarked: “Our schools have succeeded in implementing safety precautions and are still doing a great job, when needed, to ensure the good health of students so that the pupils can again enjoy physical education.
“We observed that the pandemic is quickly affecting the pupils of secondary school and even younger kids; that’s why it is essential to recommend the routine testing for family members of cases in order to keep all students and teachers safe so that children continue learning.”
“I also request everyone in the country to not skip washing hands, face and house properly and take fresh air to become immune to the life-threatening virus.”
The council suggests that even if one person in a house, neighbors, or relatives tests positive for COVID-19, everyone in the house, from children to older adults, should test themselves for coronavirus. It is also recommended that every household who goes to school, college, or university should:
- Must take a lab-processed Polymerase Chain Reaction test (PCR) 3 to 5 days after direct exposure and take an LFD test every day for one week to 10 days from the day of first exposure.
- Can resume daily school activities if the results of both tests (PCR and LFD) are negative.
- Should go in complete isolation for almost 10 days if any test results show COVID positive.
- If a person is positive for the LFD test, take a PCR test as a confirmatory test.
- If the PCR test of an LFD positive person shows negative results, the person can carry on with his routine activities, i.e., go back to his educational institution or job.
Ian Ashworth, Executive of Public Health at Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “Undoubtedly, vaccine proves a life-saver as it has made a big change for minimizing the risk of citizens becoming critically ill with Covid-19 – it is our strongest weapon against the harmful virus.”
“That has been observed through the huge take up of any vaccine by the majority of people of West Cheshire.”
“No doubt, everything from all businesses to education and health-care has faced a big loss and a lot of challenges because of the increasing rates of cases. In short, everyone suffered from COVID-19; therefore, we can all understand each other. We can together do whatever it takes to get rid of these circumstances.”
“It is requested to get your vaccine dose right now. Keep in mind that frequent testing, washing hands, face and homes carefully are all still necessary weapons to fight against virus and to reduce its outbreak.”
