Briones: Studies show children at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 at home than in school

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Wednesday students are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home than in school as the government prepares for the dry run of face-to-face classes in January.

Briones made the remark after she was asked during a televised briefing whether the decision to hold a dry run could put students at risk of infection.

“Sinasabi na lahat ng pag-aaral nagpapakita na ang pinaka-lowest threat ay sa schools. Ang malaking posibilidad ay sa homes kasi that is where they spend most of their time and other places,” Briones said at the Laging Handa briefing, citing a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Early this month, UNICEF urged governments to “prioritize reopening schools and take all actions possible to make them as safe as possible” since a recent global study using data from 191 countries “showed no association between school status and COVID-19 infection rates in the community.”

“Kaya tinitingnan namin iyan sa mga pag-aaral but, ingat pa rin tayo dahil sinasabi na ang mga bata maski asymptomatic - hindi natin sila tinitingnan dahil asymptomatic sila – baka may dala-dala silang virus na puwedeng ipasa sa members ng kanilang households,” Briones said.

Select schools in areas with low risk for COVID-19 transmission will hold face-to-face classes from January 11 to 23, 2021. The dry run will be monitored by the DepEd and the COVID-19 National Task Force.

The government emphasized that face-to-face classes would be voluntary, thus a parent’s permit must be submitted for the student to participate.

“Kami naman sa Department of Education, nakikita namin na baka mag-expect ang taumbayan na ngayong may posibilidad na may vaccine na ay i-implement na ang face-to-face,” Briones said.

“Kaya iyong permiso na hinihingi namin sa Presidente ay paggawa ng pilot study para kung nandiyan na ang vaccine, handa na ang lahat, mayroon na kaming ideya kung paano namin ito ipapatupad.”

A total of 1,114 schools have been recommended to take part in the pilot run, but the number could still go down after the evaluation, Briones said.

She said the schools would be evaluated based on compliance with health protocols and approval of parents and local government units, among other factors. — RSJ, GMA News