On Monday, May 18, the Department of Education (DepEd) City of Manila said there is “no announcement yet” on mass testing or COVID-19 tests in classrooms.
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malauan said there should be a research procedure that would have to conform with safety guidelines in tests per day. In other words, it will be as “scale study.”
“It may be misinterpreted as checking anything, which can neither be affordable nor appropriate,” Malaluan said in a tweet.
This was in reaction to a report from ABS-CBN on Sunday, May 17. In a statement, the department was monitoring mass testing in classrooms.
DepEd Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo said in an interview with DZMM on Sunday that the education department was studying the cost of conducting mass testing in schools to help ensure the safety of students and school personnel.
“We are still researching how much it will cost, and whether we can afford it,” Escobedo said.
Earlier the local government coronavirus task force approved the DepEd resolution on the school opening on August 24 for school year 2020-2021. In addition, the classes are in classrooms or virtually depending on the state of the coronavirus pandemic by then.
Meanwhile, if approved by the government task force, private schools who want to open classes in June can do so. Schools should also follow the safety protocols of the health department, Secretary Leonor Briones told DepEd.
“Before August 24 2020, there is no-face-to-face classes. And from now on, face-to-face classes will be only in areas where physically opening,” Briones said.
Republic of The Philippines had recorded 12,513 cases of coronavirus infections as of Sunday, with 824 deaths and 2,635 recoveries due to the Covid-19 cases.
