WITH this week’s official confirmation of a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections in Jamaica, Ardenne High School has put measures in place to complete the school year with minimal dislocation at the St Andrew-based institution.

On Wednesday, Ardenne initiated a programme of testing for the entire school community, executed in partnership with Technological Solutions Limited (TSL) and under the leadership of Ardenne alumnus Dr Andre Gordon, founder and CEO of the company.

According to Dr Gordon, this accelerated measure is an extension of an ongoing relationship with the school. “Earlier this year we provided science scholarships to four schools, including Ardenne.

He said that in following up with the school about the progress of the students, it became immediately apparent that in the middle of this fifth wave of the virus the school community was going to be challenged in keeping the school open.

Ardenne’s Principal Nadine Molloy said after initial conversations with TSL the school made the arrangements within an hour. “COVID has reinforced the need for us to pay more attention to the risks we have to take. When we heard that there were suspected COVID cases in the student population, with flu-like symptoms, we had to help our community to ascertain the facts rapidly.”

She argued that this was necessary to move aggressively and thus avoid any additional disruption in the learning process as the number of cases were arising nationally, forcing some schools to close.

“We don’t want Ardenne to have to close down or to go back to primarily being online, particularly not at a time when students are preparing for exams and looking to complete the school year,” said Molloy.

Seventy-four tests were completed on day one, with the programme accelerating towards the end of the week.

It was not clear if any of those tested were positive.

Dr Gordon expressed satisfaction with the progress, noting that TSL opted to administer the best available testing system. “We decided to offer to the school, free of charge, the gold standard PCR test for all students.

In addition, TSL has offered access to testing by parents and guardians at a reduced cost.