The government of New Zealand has reopened the schools across the country after the alert system there dropped down to “level 2” this month. Officials have been counseling and encouraging parents to send their kids back to schools.
“Kiss and go” zones have been set up for parents to drop off their children instead of escorting to the classrooms in schools in order to maintain social distancing.
Students will then be accompanied by just teachers beyond these zones as parents are not allowed to enter beyond this without an appointment.
Initial teaching programs will also include detailed discussions about hygiene practices which are really effective and teachers will talk about new concepts like ‘ensuring everyone has room to breathe’.
There will be no shared water fountains in the school and those existing already have been turned off.
Schools witnessed children from all across the nation on Monday after a complete lockdown of two months. Students from major cities like Auckland and Wellington showed up at the school gates and reunited with friends and acquaintances.
Education minister raised the point that this return to a bustling yet noisy environment after a prolonged lockdown might result as a “culture shock”.
Most of the restrictions levied due to lockdowns were withdrawn last Thursday. Due to the difficulty in implementing health protocols for those very young, schools were kept shut ill then.
Transportation facilities are also being provided by the schools for many who are not able to board the public conveyance as they are accepting only a certain no. of passengers to abide by the social distancing norms.
Education minister of New Zealand, Chris Hipkins told the reporters that their intention was to take kids back to school and make them catch up with the skills and learning which they have lost due to the lockdown to curtail the virus spread.
Jacinda Ardern, Prime minister of NewZealand, is being praised for her steps and ways of handling the situation amidst the pandemic spread across the world.
New Zealand recorded just 21 deaths due to Covid-19 on Tuesday and 1500 confirmed cases further as the figure. This is a considerable drop in the number as per the official figures.
After this drop in numbers, the lockdown norms have been eased in New Zealand after a complete lockdown of two months.
Prime minister warned against complacency in upcoming weeks after having declared their “go hard and go early” approach a major step in combating the virus spread.
She declared this battle won but also warned to remain vigilant in order to maintain the situation and safety. She conveyed that there was no undetected community transmission anymore in New Zealand.
