Here is the press release with the update on the situation of the institute quarantine which, after the mass test on May 12, was maintained, as per initial provisions, from May 6 to 16, 2021.
The school is no longer in quarantine . Formally there is no obligation to close, but it was preferred, in agreement with the cantonal doctor, to act with caution and gradually reopen face-to-face teaching, starting from Monday 17 May already with elementary classes.
PRESS RELEASE
State of the situation on the school quarantine at the Steiner school in Origlio
14.05.2021
On Wednesday 5 May, the cantonal doctor’s office declared a class quarantine and the next day extended the measure to an institutional quarantine, offering students and employees a mass pcr salivary test. The provision provides for a quarantine from 6 to 16 May for elementary, middle and high school classes. The test was repeated on May 12.
Brief account of the situation:
Starting from May 2, cases of positivity emerged in rapid succession among students of the middle classes, until the cantonal doctor decreed on May 5 a quarantine for the seventh class (second grade) where 3 cases had emerged. This quarantine was scheduled until 13 May.
Prior to this date, the Steiner school has never been subjected to quarantine measures
In the meantime, many other positive cases have emerged in the other middle classes that have led to the organization of a mass test in the institute, which was held on Friday 7 May. At the same time, the whole school was decreed in pre-quarantine from 6 May. This only concerned SE, MS and SMS, because no cases were found in the kindergarten, located in a separate building.
Participation in the mass test was very large, over 80%, and was able to highlight many positive cases even if asymptomatic. Among the cases that have already emerged previously and the new ones, about 50 positives have been reached out of a population of about 200 people. This led to confirm the institute quarantine from 6 to 16 May and to set a second time for the mass test, Wednesday 12 May.
Almost all cases were asymptomatic, or with mild or moderate symptoms.
In the meantime, one of the upper classes had left, on Friday 30 April, for Campo Blenio for the didactic outing on topography. In this situation of isolation and in the absence of cases concerning this class, it was decided to let the boys stay on site to conduct isolation. After Thursday, with the onset of some symptoms, the boys were in turn tested and by Saturday they all returned and quarantined until 18.05 in their homes.
The last days
The test was repeated on the morning of Wednesday 12 May, and the invitation was extended to the children of the kindergarten, as well as to all the cases previously found negative and also to the families of students and teachers, even if they already had home cases of positivity. This was done in order to limit any infections as much as possible by identifying all situations. The school still cooperated with very high numbers and 190 tests were carried out. 18 were found to be positive, and most of these are attributable to a secondary infection, essentially of intra-family origin, or to classes previously in quarantine. [Themeone_spacer height=”20px” class=””]
There was good participation in the kindergartens, with about a third of the students and all the teachers who took the test and no positive cases were found. For this reason the kindergarten was excluded from the quarantine and from the measures concerning the school. [Themeone_spacer height=”20px” class=””]
At the same time, the cantonal doctor stressed that the contagious situation last week was of an important size and they are still waiting for the results of the laboratory for the identification of a possible variant. [Themeone_spacer height=”20px” class=””]
In this context, we are all aware that it is necessary to have the utmost caution for the still very delicate situation, in which all possible measures must be able to be adopted. [Themeone_spacer height=”20px” class=””]
With the college, the committee and the management group, in agreement with the cantonal doctor, it was therefore defined that the quarantine has been confirmed until Sunday 16 May and the reopening of the institute will take place gradually at starting from 17 May, also due to the organizational difficulties caused by the quarantines of the staff.
The school will be organized as follows:
The middle and high schools (from VI to XII) will face the week from 17 to 21 May with distance learning, which has already begun on the two opening days of 10 and 11 May. [Themeone_spacer height=”20px” class=””]
We thank the entire staff of the cantonal doctor’s office for their cooperation, who answered all the questions and clarified all the situations with the utmost availability, all the teachers and all the parents who understood the delicate situation and collaborated with great participation. and patience, with the aim of returning everyone as soon as possible with the school in attendance.
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The running of the school
The committee of the Rudolf Steiner school association in Origlio
