Vergeire: No need to delay reopening of classes despite monkeypox detection

There is no reason to delay or stop the opening of classes on August 22 despite the country being able to detect its first monkeypox case, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said Tuesday.

At a press briefing, Vergeire said they have put up safeguards to ensure the safety of the children who are set to go back to face-to-face classes.

Along with the Department of Education (DepEd), she said they will heighten the health screening both among students and teachers.

“Ang isa sa pinaka-importante, we will be working with the Department of Education on this, would be the screening of children and teachers when they go to school,” she said.

“Walang papasok dapat sa eskwela na may mga sintomas o ‘di kaya kung meron nang mga lesions, makita na natin agad,” she added.

(One of the most important measures is the screening of children and teachers when they go to school. We will be working with the Department of Education on this. No one should be able to go to school with symptoms or if they already have lesions, we should be able to see them right away.)

Vergeire made the remark after DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said on Monday that they will defer to the guidelines that the DOH will issue on monkeypox in relation to the resumption of classes three weeks from now.

The DOH announced last Friday that the Philippines has already recorded its first case of monkeypox in a 31-year-old patient who arrived from abroad on July 19. He tested positive for the virus on Thursday, July 28.

On July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox as a 

Enrollees

Meanwhile, at a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Poa said the opening of School Year 2022 to 2023 will push through, adding that that 13.1 million students have already enrolled.

As of 7 a.m. on Tuesday, DepEd’s data showed that a total of 13,152,065 learners have registered for the upcoming academic year.

Of this number, 6,118,690 students are from elementary levels, 4,221,840 from junior high school, 1,940,621 from senior high school, and 870,914 from kindergarten.

Poa said the turnout of the ongoing enrollment this school year is “significantly higher” than that of the previous year.

“It does appear from the trend that our learners are excited to go back to in-person classes na po simply because marami rin sa ating mga learners in the previous, walang access sa remote learning,” he added.

Poa also reiterated that they are coordinating with the DOH to roll out a mobile COVID-19 vaccination in schools and organize counseling sessions among unvaccinated learners. — RSJ, GMA News