Schools in safe areas may open when new semester starts on July 1
Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan said on Wednesday (May 20) that the Public Health Ministry has proposed to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration to allow the reopening of schools located in areas free from Covid-19 cases.
The ministry has surveyed those schools to see which ones should be reopened. The first semester of the year will start on July 1 as previously scheduled, he added.
The ministry issued its latest guidelines on Covid-19 prevention for schools on Saturday (May 17), covering several matters from high-risk people to sanitation of schools.
The ministry stated that the high-risk ones, after Covid-19 cases are confirmed, were found to be patients’ close persons, whether friends, colleagues, or those talking to the patients for more than five minutes, within a range of one metre. It also included those who had been with the patients in the same air-conditioned rooms or spaces for more than 15 minutes, within a one-metre range.
According to the ministry, schools that reopen must sanitise every area and provide sanitisers for both students and staff. Social distancing must be applied to all areas of the schools, and the personal belongings of each student must be separated.
The ministry also said that the sick leave of students and school staff will be checked and informed to local public health officials, and both students and staff must be screened before entering the schools.
If the confirmed or suspected cases are found in a student's family, the school must prohibit all gatherings, the ministry added.
In addition, it was stated that all places must be sanitised after the confirmed cases are found, and those suspected persons in the schools must be quarantined at home and their condition checked regularly.