- When you touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands,
- When you prepare or eat food with unwashed hands,
- When you touch a contaminated surface or objects,
- When you blow your nose, cough or sneeze into your hands and then touch other people’s hands or a common object,
YOU HAVE SET UP THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOR GERMS TO SPREAD.
Regular handwashing is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick and prevent the spread of germs to others.
HOWEVER, February 2021 marks the return to in-person or hybrid learning for many school-age children. AND regular handwashing may not remain a priority with young people once they get back to school and begin to interact with their friends and have to sit in a formal school setting again. Schools will have health and safety guidelines in place.
- Whether your child’s school requires a uniform or not, a MASK is a requirement to enter schools.
- Many schools will have hand sanitizing stations throughout the school. Students should use them as they enter and leave each classroom, bathroom and cafeteria.
- Some schools will have plexiglass partitions installed on tables to separate one student from another. Encourage your children to respect them, keep them clean and try to avoid knocking them over as they break easily.
- Keeping the 6ft distance mandate within an occupied school building will be a challenge for all schools once students return. But students should stay aware of the need to keep their distance.
Parents should calmly talk with their children about the return to school and strongly advise them to follow the school’s safety guidelines and to uphold their responsibility to keep themselves and their classmates and teachers safe. The objective is to create a safe learning space for children. The news provides frightening data and the realities of families having lost loved ones to COVID increase our children’s concern and in some cases, fear, about returning to school. If we can all do our part in keeping each other safe, we can begin to chip away at the magnitude of the problem.
Kimya Moyo, Health Liaison