As you are no doubt aware, three cases of Coronavirus have now been confirmed in New Zealand. We are therefore bringing forward our usual ‘flu-season’ procedures to help avoid the spread of any infectious disease in our school community.
Basic hygiene measures are the most important way to stop the spread of infectious disease, including the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Basic hygiene measures include:
- hand hygiene – that is, washing hands regularly with soap and water, or cleansing with hand sanitiser
- staying at home if you are sick
- coughing or sneezing into a tissue or your elbow and then performing hand hygiene
- cleaning surfaces regularly
Our teachers have been briefed in our infectious disease procedures and we have implemented the following in our classrooms:
- Reminding our students to wash hands before eating and after using the bathrooms
- Encouraging the use of tissues for anyone who is sneezing or coughing (if you could supply a box of tissues to your child’s classroom teacher, that would be appreciated)
- Washing of hands using the following procedure (please reinforce this at home)
Hand Hygiene Procedure
- Wet hands, preferably with warm water and use soap
- Rub hands vigorously together and rub all areas
- Wash for 20 seconds (about the same time as it takes to sing Happy Birthday)
- Rinse well and dry hands thoroughly, the following examples are considered thorough:
- 20 seconds by paper towel (2 towels 10 seconds on each towel)
- 45 seconds by air dryer
- 10 seconds by towel followed by 20 seconds by air dryer
Times when hands should be washed
- After coughing or sneezing (when the hands have been used to cover the mouth or nose)
- After using the toilet or after handling animals
- Before, during and after the preparation of food
- When hands are dirty
- More often if someone is sick
If you have any of the symptoms associated with Coronavirus, or have recently been to a country or area of concern, or have been in close contact with someone confirmed with COVID-19, please telephone Healthline (for free) on 0800 358 5453 or your doctor immediately.
Symptoms include:
- fever
- coughing
- difficulty breathing
Symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to a range of other illnesses such as influenza. Difficulty breathing is a sign of possible pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention. Having any of these symptoms does not necessarily mean that you have COVID-19.
We don’t yet know how long symptoms take to show after a person has been infected with Coronavirus, but current World Health Organization assessments suggest that it is 2–10 days.
For further information on Coronavirus please refer to the Ministry of Health Guidelines:
Ministry of Health Guidelines – Coronavirus
We will keep families updated of any information that comes to hand; particularly with regards to our Raglan Community.
Please, as has always been our advice, if your child is sick keep them at home and seek medical advice. Your support in keeping your child at home if they are unwell is appreciated.
Kind regards
Raglan Area School
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