The ManicaPost
IF a student indicates that they are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms while writing an exam, the school head, deputy, senior teacher or the invigilator must take immediate charge of the situation.
The person should promptly be asked to leave the exam venue as soon as possible and be taken to a separate room or area away from all other students.
If immediate assistance is required, the number of people administering such care to the student must be limited to the absolute minimum.
Those assisting must wear a face mask and any other personal protective equipment that is required.
Once immediate care has been administered, the responders should ensure that they follow all appropriate hand washing and self-sanitisation routines.
Regarding the affected exam room: Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the area.
Immediately ascertain: (i) If emergency care (including resuscitation) is required, take urgent steps to summon such help by calling the trained Covid-19 respond team members at the school, Covid-19 Rapid Response Team or ambulance.
(ii) If the person is able to respond to questions, the invigilator, head, deputy or senior teacher should enquire if the affected person has symptoms that indicates that he/she may have Covid-19.
The specific symptoms to consider are: fever, cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing, generalised body pain or flu-like symptoms, recent chest infection, pneumonia and, recent contact with a person with Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms.
If any of these symptoms/conditions are present, or if it is not possible to ascertain if these symptoms are present, then further management must be based on the assumption that the person has Covid-19.
(iii) If there is a possibility that the affected person’s symptoms are due to Covid-19, the head, deputy, senior teacher or invigilator should continue to ensure (and if necessary instruct) that the person remains in an isolated place and is wearing a face mask.
If such a self-isolation facility is not available in close proximity to the exam venue, then the staff member/student should be advised to access care at an off-school healthcare facility for further medical examination/management if they are able to do so safely and without placing other people at risk.
If the student is safely capable of doing so without placing other people at risk of exposure, then he/she should leave the school and proceed to a place where he/she will be able to self-isolate.
He/she should then be advised to seek care from their usual healthcare provider (ideally initially by telephone).
(iv) If the student is not in a position to leave the school safely by him/her self, then arrangements must be made for the student to be transported, in a manner that does not place other persons at risk, to an off-school healthcare facility by using appropriate ambulance services.
(v) In all instances, the school authorities must be informed of the situation.
In doing so it will be necessary to provide the name and condition of the person.
(vi) The head, deputy or senior teacher should stay in touch with the student on a regular basis to continue offering appropriate support and assistance.
Identification and management of contacts
The school head, deputy, senior teacher or invigilator should attempt to reasonably assess as best as possible the level of exposure to other students and staff in the exam venue and specifically students and/or staff that may have had sustained contact with the index case for more than 15 minutes, and within two metres of the index case.
If the contact tracing indicates that other persons may have been exposed then the school authorities must determine for each contact case whether the exposure was low risk or high risk.
The school authorities should reasonably assess as best as possible which persons in the exam venue are low risk and which are high risk (while taking into consideration that all students would be wearing masks and seated at least two metres from each other in all directions, whether hand sanitising was done, whether ventilation was effective, etc.).
Low risk contact exposure is generally regarded as instances where there was no face to face contact within two meters for more than 15 minutes with the person who tested positive to Covid-19.
High risk contact exposure is generally regarded as instances where there was face to face contact and where such contact took place within two meters and for more than 15 minutes with the person who tested positive to Covid-19.
For low risk contact exposures, the school authority may permit such students to continue writing exams using a cloth mask while complying with standard precautions and they must daily monitor for symptoms.
As a precautionary measure the person’s exam paper and belongings must be handled by someone wearing gloves and such gloves should thereafter be appropriately discarded. – online
