Some local government units have begun to take matters into their own hands by suspending classes to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), after health officials confirmed several cases of local transmission.
The case for keeping kids out of school has been championed by the likes of Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, whose city has suspended classes in all schools and all levels as a precaution against the spread of the virus.
The mayor has also asked the Department of Education to pass all students in Navotas, so they would no longer have to attend classes until the end of the school year, which is about two or three weeks away.
“The lives of the children are more important than two to three weeks of schooling,” Tiangco said in Filipino, adding that schools could simply use the students’ average grades for the previous quarters to arrive at their final grade.
“What we want is to be safe,” he said. “Don’t we want to choose the option that is safer?”
Tiangco said suspending classes now could be a wrong decision, but he would rather err on the side of caution.
“The question here is, are we willing to take the risk or do we want to take precautionary measures? It can be a wrong decision, but I just want to be on the safe side. The safety of the children is more important to me,” he said.
Other local governments have also suspended classes over COVID-19, including those in Pasay City, San Juan, Cainta and Taytay.
The City of Manila has suspended classes between March 9 and March 15. Other LGUs are expected to follow suit.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that while canceling classes was within the right of the local government, it was not recommended. "That's their own decision but as of today, we are on sub-level 1 of code red and that is not being recommended," Duque said on Saturday.
"The class suspension is their strategy, their decision. They will be the ones accountable for their decisions," said Duque.
The Health chief pointed out that the cancellation of classes and work will be recommended under code red, sub-level 2, which will be prompted by the presence of "community transmission" where the source of COVID-19 cases can no longer be traced.
But how big do we need to leap to get from sub-level 1 to sub-level 2? How long will it take?
Elsewhere in the world, most of the countries that have suspended schooling on a large scale are those with widespread cases of the disease, such as China, Japan, Italy, and Iran.
Here at home, and with the number of new cases rising by the day, we cannot take any chances with the well-being of the people. There is so much we still do not know about the virus, and even about our government's ability to contain it. With stakes this high, there is only one recourse for now: To do whatever it is in our power to be safe.
