MANILA – The infection rate of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) among students in limited face-to-face classes across the country is “very low,” with no death reported.
Prospero de Vera III, chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), said on Tuesday that all affected pupils did not require hospitalization and were asymptomatic.
More than 9,000 students are physically attending classes in 118 approved medical and health institutions.
“The infection rate was very, very low. It is less than one percent. It is .03 percent of the students who got infected. All of the students gumaling na, walang namatay (have recovered, no one died), so that means, our guidelines are working,” he said during a televised public briefing.
Aside from adhering to minimum public health regulations, de Vera stated that 76 percent of students and 95 percent of faculty members who report physically are vaccinated.
President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to make a decision on CHED’s recommendation for limited face-to-face classes in fields such as engineering, hospitality, and maritime.
According to De Vera, students want to return to school, graduate, take up license exams, and eventually find work.
De Vera stressed that the safety of examinees must be prioritized in the appeal to postpone the licensure examinations for medical courses.
