PCR Tests Mandatory For Students Going Back To School

Students getting back to school after covid-19 marks the end of an era and plants the seeds of a new beginning. Children are preparing to return to their lessons next Monday, after the summer break.

Keeping in mind the health and safety of the children, all precautionary measures will be in place as a new UAE Covid-19 update has been shared ahead of children returning to school.

The update states that secondary school students over the age of 12 must have a PCR test before returning to school after the holidays. The negative PCR test result must not exceed 96 hours from the start of the first day of school.

This announcement was made by the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.

Face-masks will continue to be mandatory for all those in “closed spaces.” The option of remote learning will be offered to students or staff infected with Covid-19, or those with respiratory symptoms until they get an all-clear medical record.

It is not compulsory to maintain social distance in classrooms and buses and will be left to the discretion of each institution. But students, teaching staff, bus drivers and bus attendants need to continue wearing masks and sanitize their hands.

Students who are not vaccinated for health reasons or who have been exempt from vaccinations can attend classes. Schools do not need to take students and school worker’s temperatures anymore and those who have a fever are to not attend classes.

These new updates give us hope and a little sense of normalcy after the upside-down turn-over that covid-9 brought in our lives. We are all collectively taking baby steps and moving forward, hopefully in the right direction, towards a brighter future!