Probable Omicron Teacher, SMAN In Batam Recommended Closed

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BATAM - State 23 Senior High School (SMA) in Batam City, Riau Islands is recommended to be temporarily closed, because a teacher has confirmed COVID-19 probable Omicron variant.

"In the Permenkes, if the teacher is positive, the school must be closed," said Head of the Batam City Health Office Didi Kusmarjadi in Batam, as reported by Antara, Monday, January 31.

He said he had coordinated with the Riau Islands Provincial Health Office regarding this condition, so that a recommendation letter was issued to the Education Office so that the school was closed.

He explained that the teacher was found to be positive in routine random checks carried out by his party for face-to-face learning surveillance in schools.

During the rapid antigen examination at the school, three people were found to be positive. His party then followed up with a PCR swab test.

"However, this teacher chose to do the PCR independently, the results were positive, and we immediately evacuated us at the Galang Island Hospital," he said.

In accordance with the rules, all positive samples of COVID-19 in Batam were "screened", and the results were known to be probable Omicron. Meanwhile, for two people whose antigen results were positive, a teacher and a student, their PCR results were only found to be positive. However, the results of the examination of the variants have not been completed.

As for the case at SMAN 4, he emphasized that no students and teachers had tested positive for COVID-19.

According to him, there was indeed a student who was known to have had contact with a positive COVID-19 patient from outside the school, and the quick test result for the antigen was positive.

The student just underwent a PCR examination today, and is currently undergoing quarantine while waiting for the PCR results to come out.

On that occasion, Didi emphasized that based on the Minister of Health, schools must be closed if teachers are confirmed positive for COVID-19. However, if a student is declared exposed to the corona virus, a quick test will be carried out on all classmates.

"If there are not many (positive ones, ed.), only local ones are on holiday. But if many are positive for the antigen, schools are closed," he said.