“The decision to close schools for quarantine is not ours. We provide recommendations. The State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Center conducts monitoring and registration. If we notice an increase in the number of sick individuals and a significant number of children are not attending school, we recommend closing it, as this may lead to complications. We also inform the education departments and coordination councils. They hold meetings, discuss the situation, and decide whether closure is necessary based on the percentage of absent children. If more than 20% of students are absent, the school may be switched to quarantine or online learning,” she emphasized.
However, according to Otorbaeva, in situations where less than 20% of children are absent from school, but there is a high incidence of illness in certain classes, it is possible to close those specific classes and switch to distance learning. This approach, as noted by the specialist, is used throughout the republic.
In Bishkek, according to Otorbaeva, there was a case where a school was completely closed due to a mass illness among students.
She also urged parents not to send children with symptoms of influenza and ARVI to school and to avoid self-medication.According to operational data, in the 49th week (from December 1 to 5), there were 42,561 cases of ARVI and influenza registered, which is 15.3% more compared to the 48th week, when 37,066 cases were recorded. Of all the sick individuals, 72.1% are children under 14 years old (15,029 cases).
For the seven million population of Kyrgyzstan, as Otorbaeva noted, the number of people sick with influenza and ARVI is 42,500, which is relatively low. Every year, there is an increase in respiratory infections during the autumn-winter period.
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