Board Villa kids armed to take on COVID-19
Published:Monday | March 16, 2020 | 12:13 AM
André Williams/Staff Reporter
Parents of students who reside at Board Villa in Craig Town, a community located off Slipe Road in Kingston, said that while they will have some challenges adjusting to having their children at home, they welcomed the Government’s decision to close schools starting last Friday.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday ordered all public infant, primary, and secondary schools, as well as teachers’ colleges, closed for 14 days in the wake of COVID-19’s emergence in Jamaica.
Parents and guardians in low-income communities in Kingston revealed to The Gleaner that they had sensitised their children to the dangers of the novel coronavirus and had prepped them to prevent its spread.
Ivy Greenland said that she agreed with the shuttering of schools as parents like her would be better able to monitor their children. She said she has had regular dialogue with her kids about the deadly virus.
“They see sense in whatever has been rolled out to the public, how to keep self-distance and the necessary measures. The worst part of this is that the things dem sold out,” she said, in reference to the buying binge at supermarkets and wholesales that has seen cleaning agents fly off the shelves.
But she has expressed concerns about the lack of running water, which presents a health hazard in the new normal of regular handwashing.
“The best thing to wash is running water, and we don’t have running water. Most persons around here have stored water, and if yuh have a basin, yuh wash yuh hand. Right now, two and three o’ we can’t wash hands in that, so the running water is essential,” Greenland said.
SOME KIDS LESS AWARE
Meanwhile, Ce’Cile Thomas has applauded the decision to precautionarily close schools – especially with very young children who are often less aware of cleanliness protocols.
“Children always come up with all kinds of things because them mix and mingle all the time. I fear for my granddaughter that suck her finger,” she said.
Thomas said that she ensures that her granddaughter has hand sanitiser round the clock.
Many children are showing initiative in keeping clean.
Carlyle McDonald, a nine-year-old student of Allman Town Primary, said he will use the time off to catch up on schoolwork while taking precautions against the virus.
“Before I go to bed, I wash my hands. When I wake up, I wash my hands and bathe,” said Carlyle.
Meanwhile, Tamara Butler told The Gleaner that despite not having much money to stock up on supplies, she ensures that her daughters are equipped with essentials to prevent contraction of the disease.
Her daughter, Kimara, came home from school while our news team was in the community armed with a mask, gloves, and sanitiser.
“Whether them go school or stay home, dem haffi eat ... . I educate them about corona, and they learn it at school. I am a ‘cleanoholic’, and Lysol is something I have been using over the years. Corona is not a new virus,” Butler said.