RIYADH – Full vaccination of persons in contact at home is a condition for students under the age of 12 to attend schools. This is part of the preventive protocols approved by the Public Health Authority (Weqaya) for students to return to schools. The protocols stipulate that all those who are in contact with the student at home such as parents, brothers and domestic workers must have completed immunization with two doses of one of the approved vaccines in the Kingdom. The Ministry of Education earlier stated that starting offline classes for students of elementary schools and kindergartens will be linked either to achieving herd immunity, by completing two doses of vaccine for 70 percent of the Saudi population or on Oct. 30, 2021, whichever comes first. According to the protocols, students, teachers and the entire staff shall wear masks and maintain physical distancing during their presence in schools regardless of their immunization status. The protocols pertaining to family stipulate that parents should not send a child to school if the child is sick until they are completely recovered. Similarly, if the child who is in contact with any coronavirus infected person from outside the school as per the status on Tawakkalna application, should not be sent to school for a period of 10 days and that will be as per the guidelines of the nearby health center. The protocols also stipulate the need to consult a doctor or contact with Ministry of Health Communication Center on No. 937 if the child suffers from high temperature or respiratory symptoms. The recovery period is 10 days from the date of taking the sample that tested positive and there shall be no symptoms over the last 72 hours of attending school without taking an antipyretic. According to the preventive protocols, there should be an agreed-upon reporting mechanism in the school with regard to the suspected cases and contacts. This shall be submitted from the education department in the region to the school health section in the Health Affairs or Health Cluster in the region. In the event of appearance of any respiratory symptoms such as high temperature, cough, runny nose and shortness of breathe, the names of such students shall be recorded in the monitoring sheet and the student shall be dealt with according to the protocols of the suspected case. A list of those students who are absent due to respiratory symptoms shall be prepared for checks prior to diagnosing the symptoms, and lists of absences due to diseases or respiratory symptoms shall be kept in case these are needed for the purposes of epidemiological investigation of the confirmed cases.
