 Noting the importance of students returned to the physical classroom setting, the departments of education and health and wellness have implemented rigorous COVID-19 protocols in schools to ensure the safety of all. Officials are confident that these protocols at educational institutions are such that if one child is a suspected case, it will not mean the overall collapse of the education sector. Details in this report by Jesse Laos. What to do if a child becomes sick at school? Staff of educational institutions have been briefed on the procedure for managing a suspected case within the student population. Should a child display signs or report symptoms of infectious illness consistent with COVID-19, he or she is to be immediately isolated in a designated isolation room until pick up. The parent or guardian is to be notified and will be responsible for picking up and transporting that child to a respiratory clinic for testing and evaluation. If their test results return negative, the child may return to school after their symptoms go away. If the test is positive, the school will be contacted by the Department of Health and protocols for contact tracing will be initiated. Chief Environmental Health Officer Parker Ragnanan indicates that the controlled environment of educational institutions guided by these procedures are a safer option for school-aged children at this time. Up to January 5th, 2021, 37 children between the ages 0 to 17 years contracted COVID-19 on island while they were out of school. Even with our students being out of school, many times they are not within a protected environment. They are out there on the streets, you see them in groups, you see them on the beach and they are exposed as well. And so the question really is the exposure at school. How much more exposed would a child be at school as compared to not being at school? Ahead of the new term, school staff have been assured that any possible exposure of COVID-19 will be communicated to them and the wider school population. And a list of close contacts of the confirmed case will be drawn up starting from two days before development of symptoms. Close contacts will be notified, tested and quarantined for 14 days. The classroom occupied by the confirmed case will be cleaned and disinfected and the diagnosed student will be isolated according to protocols. He or she will be isolated until the symptoms clear up and a new PCR test result comes back negative. Only then will that student be able to return to school. Last October, all schools on island were closed when a Castery's comprehensive student tested positive. Ragnanand suggests that it will take more than one positive test to shut schools again. You would remember the domino kind of effect that this one experience had on the island. The question is really if there is a situation at one individual school, should every school on the island remain closed as a result? That is the question. And therefore in all other business sectors, so we've had persons at different business places who have contracted the disease. But have we seen all businesses shut down on the island? So we need to look at it very, very carefully and take very strategic approaches in terms of how we do things. Health officials refer to evidence which shows that children are less likely than adults to be transmitters of disease and that child-to-child transmission is uncommon. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting.