WITH the Government outlining the top 20 communities in the island with active cases just this weekend, Opposition spokesperson on health and wellness Dr Morais Guy is cautioning that even if schools in these areas are seen as “COVID-19-compliant”, reopening for face-to-face learning might pose too much of a risk to their populations.

“I had originally said that in those areas where we find that the numbers are low then we would not be averse to schools reopening for face-to-face. However, those 20 areas that the ministry pointed out in the press conference as the communities that have the greatest number of the virus, from Old Harbour all the way back down, exercise caution. You can’t have a community where you have increased numbers and you are reopening the schools,” Dr Guy stated yesterday during an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“My position is that we should look at where the numbers are and if they are low, then we would not have a challenge with supporting the reopening for face-to-face,” Dr Guy stated. He further added “Even though a school is COVID-19-compliant it does not necessarily mean it should reopen.”

The Ministry of Education last week indicated that following on the October to December 2020 pilot programme in some schools, for the new term 129 schools have been approved for face-to-face teaching and learning. These schools, the ministry said, have been allowed a two-week period from January 4 to 18 to refine their preparations for teaching.

On Saturday the health ministry said the St Catherine communities of Old Harbour, Ensom, Greater Portmore, Spanish Town Central were among the top 20 communities with active cases now on its radar.

In Kingston and St Andrew the communities of Mountain View, Springfield Gardens, Vineyard Town and Liguanea featured, while the communities of Grange Hill and Negril in Westmoreland were flagged. Also flagged were the communities of Christiana and Mandeville in Manchester; Runaway Bay, Brown’s Town, Great Pond, and Exchange in St Ann; Falmouth in Trelawny; as well as Port Maria and Charles Town in St Mary; and Trinityville and Seaforth in St Thomas.