Maria Regina at low risk for covid19

THE Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Division has deemed the risk to members of the school community of the Maria Regina Grade School, in Port of Spain, contracting covid19 “is currently low.”

The division wrote to the school’s principal, Elizabeth Crouch, on Friday.

The school took precautionary measures on Thursday to close the school for ten days after there were reports that the parent of a student had been infected with covid19.

The parent, a 52-year-old employee with Proman, an energy company with offices in Point Lisas, travelled to Switzerland and self-isolated himself on his return to Trinidad. He has since been quarantined at the Caura hospital. His family were also quarantined at home.

On Friday, public health officials visited the school which sanitised by the Port of Spain City Corporation.

In the letter to Crouch, the division's technical director, Dr Avery Hinds, said, “It is to be noted that, as a result of the very responsible self-isolation and family quarantine actions taken by the affected individual, the risk to members of the school community is currently low

“Public health officials will remain in contact with the school and establish contact with each family in the school community to facilitate all relevant public health follow up,” Dr Hinds said.

The ministry advised, in the interim, during the hiatus in school activities, school attendees and household contacts to curtain/eliminate travel via the public transportation system.

It also advised them to refrain from attending gatherings including school, work, religious congregation, extended family gatherings and gatherings in public spaces, for example cinemas, bars, malls.

Parents of students at the school said they have been on the receiving end of rejection since it was reported that a fellow parent had contracted the virus.“The public is handling this bad. People are scorning us. The thing is a lot of people travel all over, but we went nowhere,” one parent said.