NCDC Demands Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly Assessment As Schools Reopen

 As schools resume nationwide, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has urged states to conduct risk assessment to mitigate the exposure level of pupils to COVID-19.

The centre advised that the risk assessment should be conducted weekly by schools, monthly by local government areas and quarterly by states.

Speaking at a media briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chike Ihekweazu, explained that the agency and the Federal Ministry of Education had developed a guideline to support states and schools in preparing for safe reopening.

He stated, “Schools should provide learners with a ‘medical status’ form to be completed by all parents and kept in confidence by the school head; ensure that a triage point is identified and well-marked at the entrance where everyone gaining access to the school is screened for high temperature, requested to wear masks and perform hand hygiene and ensure that classrooms are well ventilated with a minimum of one-metre sitting arrangement.”

The DG emphasised that all staff, visitors and students above six years must wear face masks at all times, adding that teachers had the discretion to define circumstances when the wearing of a face mask is not appropriate for children, particularly, those with special needs.

The agency equally recommended access to running water, soap and hand washing facilities, pointing out that staff at the sickbay should be trained and provided with required personal protection equipment.

The task force added that Nigeria had been able to conduct 600,000 tests for COVID-19.

It regretted that all the states of the federation failed to meet the testing target set for them.

The National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, disclosed this at the briefing.

He said, “With the reopening of schools, the PTF remains concerned about the long-term impact of COVID-19 on education and eventually our economy.

“As of today, we are approaching about 600,000 Nigerians that have been tested for COVID-19. This might sound like a huge figure but it is actually quite low.

“Our target is for every state to test at least one per cent of its population. Only the FCT has achieved this target. Lagos is fast approaching (target), with about 97 per cent achievement. But other states are barely above 25 per cent.