RIYADH — Ibtisam Al-Shehri, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, said that we can't continue counting on online learning until the pandemic ends. She highlighted the latest decision to resume in-person attendance for primary and kindergarten students during a press conference on Sunday. Al-Shehri said the return of students is a family and educational demand, and it requires a participatory responsibility from society, families and parents to adhere to the precautionary measures and educate their sons and daughters and follow up on them. The spokesperson reviewed the educational process since the start of the current school year, the coordination between the ministries of education and health on the developments of the pandemic. This is in addition to the ministry's efforts as regards the implementation of health protocols and models in schools to eliminate the repercussions of the pandemic. On the other hand, the spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdali said that conducting laboratory tests to detect the COVID-19 is not for all people, and not at any time. Al-Abdali explained during the press conference that if the vaccinated people feel coronavirus symptoms they should get the laboratory tests done. "We urge those who have not completed their immunization if they contacted infected people to take advice before conducting PCR tests." "The urgency in conducting the tests, or repeating it without a sufficient period of time for the result to appear, may lose its importance and value," he said. He pointed out that the Kingdom has given so far more than 52 million doses of vaccine, benefiting more than 23 million people across the Kingdom. He also stressed the importance of vaccination and how it reduced critical cases and hospitalization. "The epidemiological curve in the Kingdom, after passing through accelerating rises, goes through a state of decrease in acceleration."
