COVID-19 school response update 16 March

Parent Actions

We request that parents and teachers keep themselves and their children out of school if any of the following conditions are met:

• You show any symptoms of COVID-19 (fever or cough).
• You have travelled to an area where COVID-19 is known to be prevalent.
• You have been in close contact with people who have travelled to such an area.

For information on areas where COVID-19 is known to be prevalent please see here.

School Actions

We have enhanced our hygiene and containment protocols to retard the spread of the virus. This includes changed sanitation methods implemented by our custodial staff aimed at sanitizing high-contact surfaces such as door handles.

We will be cancelling until furthur notice all peripheral school activities such as trips, after school activities and conferences.

We are working on a roll-out of distance learning in anticipation of any possible school closure and to support those students staying at home as a result of our request above.

For more information on this, you can read my briefing notes here.

More Information

International School continues to be guided by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. On Saturday 14th March 2020 the Government of the Republic of Zambia issued a ministerial statement that may be found here. Some of the measures brought into force with immediate effect include:

• Mandatory quarantine of all travelers from high-risk areas for a minimum period of 14 days.
• Mandatory isolation of all suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19.
• A mandatory requirement for the provision of adequate and accessible facilities for hand hygiene at all public places including shopping malls, markets and other trading places, restaurants, bars, bus stations, places of worship, schools, offices, and other congregate settings. Hand hygiene facilities should include soap and running water, or alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
• School authorities, leaders of religious institutions, employers and community leaders are required to disseminate information on health practices, including for the prevention of COVID-19, to their constituents.
• Restriction of close personal contact such as handshakes and hugs, particularly in congregate settings such as schools, offices, places of worship, and others.
• Social distancing of at least one meter is encouraged when an individual is showing respiratory symptoms such as cough and/or sneezing. Individuals showing such symptoms are urged to stay at home and avoid interacting with the public.
• Restriction of unnecessary public gatherings.
• Restriction of non-essential foreign travel.
• Mandatory screening of international travelers including truckers, bus operators, and passengers at points of entry, bus stations and other check points that may be set up from time to time.