Coronavirus response rationale

I'm writing to elaborate some of the thinking that goes into our coronavirus strategy here at International School. Usually, we communicate guidance as simply and clearly as possible, but I think there is virtue in understanding the thinking underlying the guidance.

As you likely know, our coronavirus strategy has three broad components:

1. Keep the virus out of school.
2. Stop the virus from spreading.
3. Respond to cases that do occur.

I expand on these three in turn below, which I hope helps you understand what we are doing in school. Throughout this crisis, we have relied upon and received your support; many thanks for that. Please leave a comment below if you want to share your opinion.

Keep the virus out of school

Although there are asymptomatic cases that are hard to detect, people likely to spread the virus will have a lot of coronavirus in their body usually leading to some kind of symptom. We want to keep these people out of school to reduce the amount of virus that gets here. This is why we have temperature screening and, importantly, ask parents to keep children home if they have symptoms of any kind. Exceptions are at the sole discretion of the nurse. We will isolate and send home children who come to school feeling unwell.

A common question is why do I have to stay home if I am ill but convinced it is not the coronavirus? The answer to this is that the symptoms of the coronavirus are quite varied and you can't be sure it's not COVID. In addition, it becomes difficult for us to manage our COVID response based on individual preferences. In any case, sick children are generally better off at home where they can rest and recover.

Stop the virus from spreading

It is inevitable that the coronavirus will come to campus but when it does we need to stop it from spreading. This is why we have the familiar trio of preventative measures:

• Wear your mask
• Keep your distance
• Sanitize your hands

A common question is why do I have to wear a mask when I don't want to and I think the risk is low? The answer to this is that school is a collective environment - your choices affect our safety - with norms set by our COVID Task Force. Inside the school premises, we must comply with school rules; that is part of the covenant we have with parents and students. 

Respond to cases that do occur

Our response to cases is guided by policy but inevitably assessed on a case by case basis. Until the recent outbreak on the year eight trip, we had no evidence of spread at school and a comparatively small number of isolated cases. Generally, our response has two components:

1. Identifying and isolating people with COVID. These are people with a positive test or with symptoms strongly suggesting COVID.
2. Identifying and isolating close contacts of people with COVID. These are people who have been in close contact with an infected person in the last 48 hours. Family members of an infected person are automatically classed as contacts under our procedures.

We could identify contacts of contacts and even contacts of contacts of contacts and so on, but we need to draw a line somewhere manageable so we focus on the cases and their close contacts only.

A common question is my son has to stay home because he was in class with an infected person but my daughter is still allowed to go to school, what's up with that? This is consistent with our policy because the son is a contact of the infected person and the daughter is automatically a contact of the son as a family member. This makes the daughter a contact of a contact of the infected person, which does not fall under our isolation policy. Please bear in mind that we do ask contacts not just to stay home, but to stay home and isolate, thus reducing the probability of transmission.