Dagupan City imposes academic break after 1,000 students, school staff report flu symptoms

The Dagupan City government on Monday announced that they would implement a one-week academic break after over 1,000 students and 250 school personnel reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

According to Executive Order (EO) No. 03 Series of 2022 signed by Dagupan City Mayor Marc Brian Lim, all online and physical classes from elementary to senior high school in all public and private institutions in the city are suspended from January 18 to 25, 2022.

This EO was issued after four more Schools Division Office personnel and four teachers in the city were positive in an RT-PCR test. The test results of others are still pending.

Independent monitoring group OCTA Research said on Friday that Dagupan, along with six other areas including the National Capital Region, were at critical risk for COVID-19

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said that the average daily attack rate per 100,000 population is “very high” in Dagupan at 29.60%, while its infection or reproduction number was at 4.58%.

The said academic health break would allow students and school personnel “a respite from physical and mental fatigue caused by the pandemic,” the EO noted.

It would also give the academic institutions “sufficient time in determining the much needed recalibrating of minimum public health protocol” to help protect the students and their staff from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the suspension of classes at the tertiary level was left to the discretion of the school authorities of the colleges and universities within the city.

As of Sunday, Dagupan reported 50 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 5,953. The city’s total recoveries stood at 5,302 while 177 died due to the disease. — DVM, GMA News