Doha: The Head of Vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Dr. Soha Al Bayat has announced that adhering to precautionary health measures has helped prevent schools from reverting back to online learning.
Speaking on Qatar TV's "Hayatna" programme, Dr. Al-Bayat said that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Ministry of Public Health will continue to conduct inspection tours to ensure the implementation of precautionary measures in schools and that the Ministry of Health will also implement random examination campaigns in schools, targeting educational staff and students, to ensure no spread of infections.
"If there are many cases in a particular class, the class will be closed. If there are many cases in the school’s teaching staff, we will ask the school to temporarily revert back to remote study. But adherence to precautionary measures has prevented us from making such a decision, " Al-Bayat said.
"I do not blame people for being bored with the procedures, but these measures have reduced the death rate and helped us reduce the spread of the disease in society."
Speaking about the ministry's preparations for the academic year, Al-Bayat said, "Our preparations in the ministry start at the end of the last academic year. In addition to following up on the Covid-19 outbreak locally and internationally, we were able to make the correct decisions in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. "
While highlighting some of the preparations the ministry made after the summer break, she said, "We have assigned a dedicated email address for schools to request any examinations, to report cases, and for inquiries."
Al Bayat added that, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, a circular was sent to all schools containing instructions on the Covid-19 pandemic and what procedures should be followed.
"Among the procedures that the Ministry of Health advises all students and educational staff to follow are that they must wear a mask in schools, and all students are to fill out a rapid antigen test form before coming to school. This test is to protect everyone from infection, " she added.
Al-Bayat confirmed that a cell, made up of members from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Health, has been re-established with the function of following up on the situation in schools and reporting any cases so that the ministry can activate the necessary measures.
She noted that Qatar has somewhat succeeded in controlling the pandemic, but the pandemic has not ended and the country is not isolated from the rest of the world.
"Certainly we have seen that there are some countries that have gone through other waves and increases in cases," she said.
