DOHA: The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), along with PHCC School Health Services and Programme (SHSP) and Communicable Diseases Control departments launched a ‘School Health Guidance Protocol’.
The protocol is to reinforce precautionary protective measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 in schools and pave the way for a safe return for students and staff.
The protocol was made as a reference for all departments, nurses and allied teams, namely health and safety wards, and for the school community as a whole. It explains all precautionary procedures to be implemented in schools to ensure the school environment is safe and healthy to receive students and staff in line with the safety measures.
Optimal implementation
To guarantee optimal implementation of the rules contained in the protocol and in order to acquaint the school community with the best preventive practices, PHCC held multistage training workshops from 23 to 27 August for each department of the school.
A team comprising school health and communicable diseases control specialists was assigned to train all targetted categories, including school nurses in government and private schools, school principals and health and safety wards on all preventive precautionary measures to be followed.
Roles assigned
To ensure full readiness and sound implementation of precautionary measures, each of the sections was assigned its role. For instance, school nurses were asked to assess and follow up the health of students on a case-by-case basis and to deal with suspected cases in isolation rooms, and refer and follow up on the same.
Health and safety wards were asked to support the school team designated to follow up the implementation and progress of the precautionary measures at the school facilities ensuring they are fully adhered to and to respond to any remarks or potential risks before kids arrive at school.