Students in three Cayman Brac schools have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting education officials to remind the public and the student population to adhere to Public Health guidelines.
“The [Department of Education Services] places the health and safety of our students as its foremost priority, and we urge the affected students to follow Public Health protocols for entering and exiting isolation,” DES Director Mark Ray said in a statement Thursday evening announcing the student cases just one week into the new school term.
The DES said, in the statement, that it received notification that students from Layman E. Scott High School, and West End, and Creek and Spot Bay primary schools have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The total number of affected students has not been released. However, Ray said steps are being taken to ensure the safety of the student population on the Brac.
“Despite the recent lessening of COVID-19 regulations, our schools continue to observe many good hygiene practices that have become routine since the pandemic. These include enhanced cleaning of the overall school environment and increased deep cleaning of high-traffic areas,” Ray said in the statement.
The DES director also urged the public to follow the COVID-19: Guidance for Educational Institutions.
The guidelines listed in that document, he said, include reporting positive results to the Public Health Department and the school.
Under the guidelines, a confirmatory PCR test is required, followed by isolation for six days.
“The day of your initial positive test is considered Day 0. You may leave isolation on Day 7 and return to your Educational Institution provided you are no longer experiencing symptoms, in particular, sneezing and fever,” the guidelines stated.
According to the latest Public Health Spotlight newsletter, which was released Friday morning, as of 29 Aug. the 156 newly detected cases along with the case rate of 225 per 100,000 population “have remained stable” since the last epidemiological week of 21-27 Aug.
It noted that the level of testing has dropped by 30% from the previous week and test positivity increased by 43%.
“Hospital admissions have started to decline and remain low. Due to changes in testing policy and testing behaviour the reported number of detected cases does not reflect the incidence of COVID-19 in the population. Therefore, whilst testing data will continue to be monitored alongside other public health surveillance, reporting will focus on severe outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalisations and deaths going forwards,” the newsletter stated.
Four new hospital admissions were registered during Epi Week 34, which, the newsletter stated, had decreased from seven patients the week before.
“All four of the patients were admitted due to COVID-19 morbidity,” it added.
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