The checking to detect a sick person, as well as taking extreme hygiene measures are the main actions adopted in schools in this province, following the guidelines of the Ministry of Education in the face of the first confirmed cases in Cuba of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Magloiris Turruelles López, head of the Department of Specialized Educational Activities of the Provincial Directorate of Education, in an interview with 26Digital reported that the circular signed by Nílser Piñeda Cruz, the highest authority here in that sector, prohibits entry to educational facilities of students, family members or workers who present any symptoms associated with fever or flu. It also establishes a rigorous daily inquiry in order to guarantee the timely detection of some of them.

The directive explained that the work they do is primarily aimed at prevention. Thus, among the first implemented actions is the training of all the personnel who work in the schools, the students and their families, in relation to the characteristics of the disease and the hygienic-sanitary measures of coexistence that the Ministry of Public Health has standardized.

"In all the municipalities," said Turruelles López, "a preparation plan was created, with a gradual and systematic timetable. We have designed a communication strategy based on disseminating all the possible information, with the support of the technologies we have. The spots, the round tables and any program in which an update is provided are recorded and then replicated. Likewise, we met with all the directors and health promoters of the main municipality because it is the most complex.

“School boards are responsible for daily notifying the authorities of Education and Health of the absences registered in their institution and the causes. Likewise, checks are received from these agencies to verify compliance with the provisions.

“Although there are problems with the supply of products such as chlorine, detergent, and soap, an effort has been made to increase the availability of these resources in each installation. We have achieved this to a great extent and childcare centers, semi-boarding schools and internal schools have been prioritized,” she affirmed.

She added that “the basic cell in this process is the family and has a high responsibility. We have the mission to prepare them, but there is an individual quota that passes through the awareness of each one. If your children are sick and you take them to the classroom, even if they are asymptomatic that day; that is a serious wrongdoing. We cannot allow it and hence the importance of daily control.”

Strength of the Educational System in Las Tunas is the permanence of nurses in all childcare centers, some semi-boarding schools and internal centers. As part of the alliances created between the ministries of Health and Education, there are also doctors in pedagogical schools and in-house schools with an enrollment of more than a thousand students.