“Sandbox Safety Zone in School” says 85% vaccination to reopen

In order to safely reopen schools for on-site learning, the Department of Health has declared that, for red and dark red zones, a minimum of 85% of all students, teachers, and staff in the school must be fully vaccinated before reopening.

The issue of Education has become a quandary worldwide as countries weigh the need for children to receive an education against the risk of covid-19 outbreaks and infections, especially with the emergence of the Delta variant that is more likely to infect children and more likely for them to become severely ill or died from the virus.

The director-general of the Department of Health says that strict adherence to the public health instructions is mandatory for any school intending to reopen and allow students to sit in classrooms for learning. Failing to reach this vaccination level and follow public safety mandates, can too easily lead to Covid-19 clusters that spread quickly and the confines of the school.

A set of rules for what officials have named the “Sandbox Safety Zone in School” has been compiled in cooperation between the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education. The guidelines and regulations contained in these rules are aimed at keeping any Covid-19 contamination out of schools and preventing the spread of any clusters within schools.

They have allowed for a little flexibility, giving authority to the local province’s communicable diseases committees to evaluate the covid-19 conditions in the area and make the ultimate decision to allow schools to reopen. They will also be tasked with enforcing the rules of the Sandbox Safety Zone in School.

SOURCE: National News Bureau of Thailand