“One of the concerns that we have, though, is that fact that we have students at our school who are positive; we have teachers who have tested positive, and nothing is being said at the schools. It’s like everything is a secret.” — Senator Elena Smith

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 19, 2022

During a press conference hosted by the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) this morning, the union’s national president, Senator Elena Smith, said that they are monitoring the increase in COVID-19 cases and will hold discussions with the Ministry of Education on a way forward if this trend continues.

Today the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced that the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant is the strain that is primarily causing the emergence of new cases across the country and according to Smith, teachers and students are being infected, and cases are not being reported by schools.

“One of the concerns that we have, though, is that fact that we have students at our school who are positive; we have teachers who have tested positive, and nothing is being said at the schools. It’s like everything is a secret, ” said Smith.

She then noted that transparency in this regard is important so that other staff members can protect themselves and students.

“It is important that the people who you work with are aware so that they can take the necessary precautions, and so If I have a colleague that tested positive, I need to know, because maybe we were having lunch together, maybe that person was in my class and we were doing work together. I have to know these things, not because I need to know your business, but it’s important that as a staff we are also aware that we have teachers out because they tested positive.” Smith said.

She pointed out as well that teachers also need to know when students test positive.

“Our students now are back, and even though they are wearing masks, still they are working in groups, they are now having lunch, they are out during break time, so things can happen. So I am hoping, and I am pleading with our schools, that if you have cases at your school, don’t hide them. Please don’t hide it, especially from your teachers. Let them know,”  Smith said.

The union is hoping that the end of the school year arrives before this new COVID-19 wave takes hold, and with all schools scheduled to be reopening at the start of the new school year, Smith said that discussions will be had with the Ministry of Education to determine the best way forward to protect teachers and students.

Unconfirmed reports are that one Belize City primary school has moved to implement measures to reduce the number of teachers and students on the compound. These will come into effect next week. The steps were taken after it was confirmed that at least one teacher and student were out of class after testing positive for COVID-19, our sources say.

Today, Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa, the country’s Director of Public Health and Wellness, confirmed that they have identified what could be defined as clusters of COVID-19 cases in some schools, but commented that these institutions have to be looked at individually.

“With regards to the school, we have learned a lot from COVID, and when schools started in the hybrid manner, we had quite a successful few months with that hybrid learning. Now that schools have been trying to go back fully and now that the BA.2 is circulating and causing increased numbers, it’s something that we’ve got to look at the school individually,” said Dr. Diaz-Musa.

In addition to emphasizing the importance of implementing public health measures inside the classrooms, such as “keeping the classrooms open, having the hand-washing done regularly”, Dr. Diaz-Musa also noted, “If you have a class of 20 students and 10 are positive, at that point, or 4 are positive, we need to say ‘we’ve got to make a decision for that class, let’s suspend that class, you go back to the hybrid learning and we’ve got to wait until that transmission cycle has been broken’. So those are some of the individual recommendations that we are doing with the Ministry of Education and with schools individually.”