The Department of Health (DOH) said it is coordinating with the Education department to determine the number of students infected with Covid-19— more than two months since the return of in-person classes in both public and private schools.
“Hanggang sa ngayon (Until now), we are coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) regarding the number of students who have been infected with Covid-19,” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, Nov. 4.
“Ang (The) Department of Education, nag commit naman sila (have committed) that they will be completing the reports of all schools and they will be submitting to us,” she added.
Vergeire acknowledged that there were students hit by Covid-19 after they went back to school for the resumption of face-to-face classes.
“There have been these number of infections amongst students during this time that we started gradually opening the schools and having face-to-face ,” she said.
In a clarificatory message, the DOH said 3,939 individuals aged 12 to 17 years old contracted Covid-19 between Sept. 1 to Nov. 3. The DOH made this clarification after Vergeire said that the figure was specific to the Covid-19 cases recorded “across different schools in the Philippines.”
“We are still waiting for the official reports regarding the number of recorded infections in schools,” the state health agency said.
Despite reported infections among students, Vergeire said that they still support the implementation of in-person classes.
“Hindi iyan dapat maging balakid para patuloy na magkaroon ng full implementation ng (That should not be a hindrance to continue to have full implementation of) face-to-face classes,” she said.
“Sa tingin ko (I think,) at this point, all of these infections does not outweigh the benefit if we open up the classes because this is very essential for the mental health wellness of our students and our children,” she added.
To recall, the School Year 2022-2023 started on Aug. 22. Meanwhile, face-to-face classes must be implemented in all public and private schools by Nov. 2.