Article by Social Share
The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) is currently investigating a report of another positive case of coronavirus (COVID-19) in a secondary school.
President of the BUT Pedro Shepherd told Nation News that while he had not yet received official confirmation from the Ministry of Education, he had received reports that a Sixth Form student at the Ellerslie Secondary School in Black Rock, St Michael has tested positive for the virus.
“I am still awaiting word from the ministry, but if this is indeed the case, it is going to be the expectation going forward as schools open back up. I don’t think we need to panic over these things at this stage, we have to quarantine, isolate and manage the situation,” Shepherd said.
Barbados Today May 9, 2021
With public health officials giving the all clear to St George Primary School and Princess Margaret Secondary School after the Ministry of Health investigated COVID-19 exposures, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw is imploring parents to use these cases as a cautionary tale to their children, to take the health protocols seriously.
During the COVID-19 update on Sunday, Bradshaw said though most students were strictly abiding by the health protocols currently in place, some were still not following the health rules consistently.
“There have been many concerns regarding the school environment; I have heard much concern about whether the students are wearing masks, and for the most part, a lot of our students are wearing their masks and abiding by the various protocols. I would urge parents to use this exercise as a learning curve for many of you,” Bradshaw said.
Barbados Today May 10, 2021
SOURCE: CMC – Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica recorded deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the last 24 hours, while Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados reported new cases of the virus.
In the case of Barbados, education and health authorities announced new measures had been put in place as students from two schools where positive tests had been recorded, were preparing to return to their classrooms this week.
The death toll in Trinidad and Tobago reached 211 on Sunday after eight more deaths were recorded.
The Ministry of Health said that one young adult was among the eight new deaths and that a further 233 people have been registered as newly infected, bringing the number of active cases to 3,907.
Article by Carlos Atwell
Chief executive officer of Supreme Counselling, Shawn Clarke, and Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw looking at the Safe Zone Reporting app. (Picture by Shanice King) Social Share
The public now has an anonymous avenue to report bad behavior by schoolchildren.
The Safe Zone Reporting app is now available in the Google Play and Apple Store. It is a collaboration between Supreme Counselling for Personal Development, the Ministry of Education and the Maria Holder Trust.
The app was launched this morning at Hilton Barbados.
Chief executive officer of Supreme Counselling, Shawn Clarke, said reports made on the app would be seen by select trained teachers and ministry safety officers who would investigate and pass it on to principals, if necessary.
May 9, 2021
Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic on Sunday announced that the St George Primary School and the Princess Margaret Secondary School are now “cleared” from a public health perspective.
Last week Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George confirmed that health authorities were investigating COVID-19 exposures at the two schools.
At a news conference this afternoon, Bostic said seven of the new positive cases of COVID-19, identified by the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory in its most recent report, were attributed to two family clusters that health officials have been following for the past several days.
He said one of those family clusters had three new cases, while the other had four.