She clarified that in cases where the total number of absentees does not reach 20%, but the figure exceeds that in individual classes, quarantine will be declared only for those classes, not for the entire school.
“In Bishkek, we have recorded only one case where a school was completely closed due to a large number of illnesses,” Otorbaeva noted. “The decision to close educational institutions for quarantine is not made by our department. We only provide recommendations to local education departments and coordination councils. The monitoring of the situation is carried out by state sanitary-epidemiological supervision centers.”
The specialist urged parents not to send sick children to school and to avoid self-medication.
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“I strongly recommend that parents not rush to hospitals at the first signs of ARVI. To avoid infection with other viruses, it is better to contact a family medicine center for recommendations on the necessity of hospitalization, as there are many patients in hospitals right now, a shortage of beds, and long queues,” added Dinara Otorbaeva.
She also noted that the increase in cases of ARVI and flu at this time of year was predictable.
“It is possible that the situation will worsen. Despite constant calls to observe precautionary measures, people continue to infect each other. Especially in favorable weather conditions, when viruses remain active. One infected person in public transport can infect several people, who then pass the infection on to their loved ones,” she explained.
According to the Ministry of Education as of December 7, 207 schools in Kyrgyzstan have switched to online learning format, and 214 kindergartens are temporarily closed for quarantine.
