Education has sent instructions to schools adapted to the current scenario of high COVID viral circulation.

Students and teachers with symptoms do not have to go to school until they have tested negative.

No tracing will be carried out in the classroom and schools will not have to send lists of close contacts

There are currently a total of 836 teachers on sick leave in public schools in the Balearic Islands.

The accumulated positives in the last 7 days among the population aged 3 to 16 years are 4,039.

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The Regional Ministry of Education and Training, in agreement with the Regional Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, has sent a document to schools in the Balearic Islands with the prioritisation of actions to be taken in the event of the appearance of cases of COVID-19 while the epidemiological situation remains in the current scenario of high viral circulation.

These actions will be reviewed according to the evolution of the epidemiological situation and the new information available on the circulating variants.

Action in the event of suspicion or confirmation of COVID-19 cases

Students, teachers or other school staff with respiratory symptoms compatible with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status or having had the disease, must consult with their health care team if they require an assessment and do not have to attend school until:

Have a negative result of a diagnostic test.
Finish the minimum isolation period of 7 days after a positive result, provided that 3 days have elapsed since the end of symptoms.
Have clinical resolution if the diagnosis is other than COVID-19.
In confirmed asymptomatic cases, isolation will be 7 days from a positive result.
It is not necessary to perform a diagnostic test to lift the isolation.
The school will not require any proof of diagnostic test to gain access to the school.
Case management

Families must inform the school if their child is COVID-19 positive or suspected of being COVID-19 positive.

When the family becomes aware of a positive case in a group, the school will inform the rest of the families in the group of the presence of a case in the class and will indicate that the students must attend school as normal, that during the 10 days following the exposure they must take extreme precautions, reduce social interactions as much as possible and constantly use the mask.

When in a period of 7 days or less, 5 or more cases coexist in a group or when 20% or more of the students are affected if the number of students in the group is less than 25, the school will report the situation to EDUCOVID, which together with the Directorate General for Public Health and Participation will assess the actions to be taken. While the strategy to be followed is being decided, the pupils in the affected group must come to the school and an individual assessment of each situation will be made.

Action to be taken in the event of close school contacts

As a general rule, no tracing will be done within the classroom and schools will not have to send lists of close contacts to EDUCOVID.

In general, only close contacts vulnerable to COVID-19 or living in vulnerable environments, pregnant women and people with immunosuppression will be screened, regardless of their vaccination status, as long as they have not had the disease in the previous 90 days.

In the case of infant and primary education, regardless of the number of positive students in the classroom, close school contacts will NOT be quarantined and no diagnostic screening test will be performed. Except in cases of immunosuppression.

In the case of students aged 12 years or older, quarantine will be applied to students and teaching and non-teaching staff who, without having had the disease in the previous 180 days, do not have a complete vaccination schedule, and to people with immunosuppression.

Special education centres are considered vulnerable environments and close contact tracing will be carried out and the educational teams will have to send the lists to EDUCOVID. This tracking and monitoring of school close contacts will be carried out by EDUCOVID. In case of the need to perform PDIA to the group, EDUCOVID will plan the management of the test.