DHA issues new guidelines for safety of school students

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

A Dubai Health Authority (DHA) official has released another set of guidelines for the safety of school-going pupils and students from the virulent novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which include taking a bath or washing any exposed part of their body upon arriving home.

DHA-Public Health Protection Department-Health Promotion and Education Section head Dr Hend Al Awadhi laid down what this group has to know and adopt as part of the “new normal” under the supervision or guidance of their parents and other older family members as well as caregivers.

Al Awadhi first issued the “Back-To-School Do’s and Don’ts” on Aug.31.

She reiterated on Sunday that schoolchildren should always remember to wear their clean and unused disposable face masks or clean and properly wash reusable face masks before stepping out of their houses.

They must be reminded, as on their own, must keep in mind that school bus assistants take their body temperature with thermography devices such as thermometer guns before they are allowed to board.

“Do not go to school if you have any symptom of respiratory infection or fever. Wear a face mask before leaving the house. It is better to use private transportation,” advised Al Awadhi, pointing out that bus riders must be made to observe the 2.5-metre distance from one another and “to avoid touching the interior surfaces of the bus.”

Meanwhile, on the reusable face masks particularly with filters, this must be washed thoroughly daily like any other cloth face mask as the filters must only be used up to 10 times: “If the mask has filter, this should be removed and reinserted after the mask is dry.”

What school children must do upon returning home:

l Leave your shoes preferably outside the main door to be sanitised every day.

l Leave the school bag, personal items and study materials at the designated area in the hallway of the home. This must be sanitised every day alongside the lunch kit, headphones, writing materials, books, notebooks, smart tools, glasses, and toys.

l Remove the face mask and dispose off correctly.

l Drop off your school.clothes inside the laundry bag.

l Take a bath and wash well the hands, wrists, neck and feet.

In a related report, DHA on Sunday lowered the cost of COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to Dhs250, so that the public would be encouraged to get this precautionary and preventive measure.

Moreover, the Early Intervention Centre of the DHA Primary Health Care Sector and located at the Al Mizhar Health Centre has so far noted that speech therapy is the most in-demand requirement of its children-patients due to speech delay at 54 per cent or 444 of its 822 virtual and face-to-face consultations.

Centre in-charge Fatma Ibrahim said plans are underway to expand the services to include a diagnostic clinic that would reduce waiting time.

The Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, DHA, recently received the Indian Consul-General at the DHA headquarters.

Humaid Al Qutami, Director-General of the DHA received Dr Aman Puri, Consul-General of India to Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Al Qutami highlighted the long-standing relationship between the two countries in several fields including the health sector. He discussed ways to explore and enhance cooperation between the two countries in the medical field.

He added that DHA is keen to collaborate with global health institutions to foster knowledge-transfer and provide high-quality care to patients.

Dr. Puri congratulated and extended his gratitude to the UAE leadership, all UAE government authorities and the DHA for providing exceptional support to all residents including the Indian community during this unprecedented crisis. He added that COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of collaboration between countries and health systems.