UAE: Students, who were Covid-positive just before new school term, set to return to campus

Samridhi Chaudhary, a Year 1 student, is one among many children in Dubai who will return to school on Monday after almost a month-long break.

Samridhi had been looking forward to returning to school after three weeks of winter holidays when she tested positive for Covid-19. Then followed the drill of isolation and remote learning, which she did with the help of her father, who was also quarantining with her.

"My wife had gone to India and Samridhi was here with me precisely because we thought travelling would mean exposure to the virus," her father Sidharth Chaudhary said. "But then she tested positive while she was here and soon, I tested positive, too."

As a result, when schools reopened for the new academic term last week, Samridhi was unable to join. "Then, in due course of time, the school declared that it was shifting to online learning completely, as the number of infected staff and students had increased."

But Sidharth said Covid-19 is so rampant these days that keeping schools closed for a long period of time may not be an appropriate solution.

"It's happening in every second house. I think it's now like common cold and flu that people will contract, get better and move on," he said. "I feel everyone will have to experience it at some point, sooner or later. The good thing is with this strain, what I've noticed from my experience, is that the majority of people are not getting hospitalised. So, that's like a silver lining."

Another student, Aakash Nandi, will also be meeting his peers and teachers after a long break.

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