Positive for covid19, Maraval RC student, family in quarantine

JANELLE DE SOUZA and JENSEN LA VENDE

The country’s last six covid19 cases came from one household in Maraval, and include a standard five student at Maraval RC School, which led to the school being closed.

During the Health Ministry's virtual press conference on Saturday morning, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram said the five cases which had just been discovered were primary contacts of case 142. Three of the five were children.

He said 76 children and 12 staff members were primary contacts of the Maraval RC student. Secondary contacts would include their parents, siblings and other household members, bringing the number of people to be traced and contacted to over 200.

Parasram said they would all have to undergo 14 days of home quarantine and would be monitored and evaluated for symptoms, while the police would ensure they abide by quarantine measures.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said, “The reason why Maraval RC School had to be closed was because a child who was known to be ill by their parents was allowed to go to school (on) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.”

Child's father: He had no symptoms till Wednesday

The father of three, who along with his family tested positive for covid19, said those who are criticising him are speaking nonsense, as they are unaware of the truth.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday the taxi driver said he read comments that he and his wife had been irresponsible in sending their son to school. He said those claiming so were ignorant.

“That is nonsense! He had no symptoms up to Wednesday when he came home and was feeling sick and had a fever. He took all the precautions.

"They just ignorant people and they will think what they want.”

The entire family, from his 62-year-old mother to his seven-year-old son, all tested positive for the virus and are now being quarantined at Caura Hospital.

“We are not worried, though, everyone is doing ok. My wife has the three boys with her, and my mother and I are both separated.”

The family was picked up by two ambulances and police at the carpark of Young's Pharmacy on Saddle Road, Maraval on Friday and taken to Caura.

'School, principal did right thing'

Sharon Mangroo, CEO of the Catholic Education Board, said neither the child’s parents nor the principal of the school had been irresponsible.

“The thing is, the principal of that school has been exemplary. She has been so particular and so careful to follow all the protocols. With all that, I don’t think the school is very much cause for concern in terms of transmission from child to child.”

At the beginning of the term, the principal made sure parents knew if any child became ill with flu-like symptoms, he or she should be kept home and the school should be informed. Facemasks and face shields were bought for students, and both teachers and children used the shields in class. Water lines were run and sinks installed so those going into the school could wash their hands. Students had to submit to temperature scans every day.

Mangroo said the child was not sick when he went to school on Monday or Wednesday, but the mother followed the principal’s instructions and kept the child at home when he became ill on Thursday.

While she did not think transmission could have occurred at school, she said the child’s father was a taxi driver, and the area in which the students lived was a relatively small village. So they regularly interacted with people outside the school.

She said the school would be sanitised on Monday, the principal had already provided all the information for contact tracing for the student, and the Ministry of Health was contacting primary contacts.

She added that an official communication would be sent out to parents this weekend, and covid19 testing would begin with the child’s classmates and their parents.

Asked if there would be any adjustments to revise how schools are run, or the August 20 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam, she said the board spoke with Education Minister Anthony Garcia about changes to SEA arrangements, and he would in turn speak to the executive about those suggestions in a meeting on Monday.

“We’ll have to wait and see. This is one school. There is always the possibility there could be more, but we will see how this one unfolds...

“The children are going to be quarantined now. They are not going to be in school again, so they would be disadvantaged a bit. We are looking at how best to deal with that.”

The Catholic archdiocese also took steps to safeguard parishioners and residents by closing the Maraval (Our Lady of Lourdes) and Paramin (Our Lady of Guadalupe) churches for one week. The Maraval church and school are next to each other.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, parish priest Fr Ronald Mendes said he and Archbishop Jason Gordon decided to close the churches until August 1. The two churches would be fumigated and professionally sanitised. He said masses would be live streamed on his Facebook page at 9 am on Sunday and at 6 pm from Monday to Friday.

TTUTA concerned about teachers, support staff

TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Antonia De Freitas expressed concern about the welfare of the teachers and other support staff who visited the school during the week.

She urged all education professionals – principals, teachers, school social workers, supervisors, curriculum officers, and guidance officers – to take the necessary precautions to stay safe, and parents to notify schools if their children are sick and not to send them to school.

“We do not want this situation to become one that is widespread and then we have to engage in other discussions on the way forward. Let us be careful and be mindful of how one person’s movements can impact another during this situation.”

She said by Monday TTUTA would contact the Ministry of Education and hear what the ministry intended to put in place for teachers and students to continue SEA preparations, since the school was closed.

The first school to close because of covid19 was Maria Regina Grade School, Port of Spain, when the father of a student became TT’s first case of covid19 when he came from Switzerland in March.

CMO: Family's contacts being traced

Parasram added that the situation with the family increased the risk of community spread. Their positive tests took the number of cases to 147.

“One other person from that cluster, which is five persons, would have been out and about as well with symptomatology in the last few days. So we have additional primary and secondary contacts from those persons, and they as well would be put into 14-day quarantine.”

In addition, Parasram said so far all primary contacts for cases 139 and 141, including people in the households and business places they visited, had tested negative for covid19. He said three primary contacts of case 139 had travelled to Tobago on the fast ferry, and contact tracing in Tobago was ongoing.

However, since the three primary contacts tested negative, the risk of transmission would be “little to none.”