Dear AES Community,
Thank you for your attention and flexibility as we continue to receive and respond to news and information about COVID-19. It is a very dynamic situation. As we look ahead, we also need to remember that each community member must share in the responsibility in helping to assure the collective wellbeing of our students.
As the school continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak, we would like to highlight the recent changes in travel advisories and recommendations made by the CDC and Indian authorities. We are in regular communication with our sister schools in India, and our protocols and responses are in line with each other. Please read and begin to plan ahead.
What We Know
The Center for Disease Control has issued Warning Level 3 advisories for China and South Korea: Avoid all non-essential travel to mainland China and South Korea
After careful consideration, AES strongly recommends that you cancel any travel plans to Warning Level 3 countries. Should you or any member of your family elect to travel to those countries, upon your return to India, you will be required to stay out of school (home quarantine) for at least 14 days before returning to campus.
If you have a guest coming to visit from South Korea or China, they, along with your family members will also be required to stay out of school for at least 14 days. We recognize this is an inconvenience. We also believe that this is an appropriate and safe measure necessary to safeguard our community of learners in Delhi.
If the Warning Level 3 list of countries grows to include other countries, the same expectation for all countries on the Level 3 list will remain as outlined above.
Alert Level 2 has been issued for travelers to Iran, Italy, and Japan. Practice enhanced precautions.
Relating to COVID-19, no other official advisories of travel to other countries have been issued.
Travelers arriving from China must be home quarantined. Travelers arriving from South Korea, Iran or Italy since February 10th may be quarantined for 14 days.
Indian airports are now screening all passengers from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran and Italy. This includes thermal screening, a declaration form, and potentially sample testing if thermal scanning comes back positive. Be aware that testing can take up to 72 hours, and that you may be held in a quarantine hospital during that period if the authorities require it.
The list of countries for mandatory screening could change at any time and we are monitoring the government’s announcements carefully.
Community members should stay informed about current international travel recommendations. Travel restrictions or advisories may come into effect with little notice.
Domestic travel (such as our minicourse trips in the high school) remains unaffected due to the small number of cases in India.
There are as yet no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Delhi.
Community members should stay informed and be intentional about decisions regarding travel of all kinds. Given the changing circumstances, travel restrictions or advisories could come into effect at airports with little notice.
What AES is Doing
We have put in place high levels of preparedness and precaution. At AES, we are poised to increase our precautionary measures should any cases in Delhi be reported and/or we see the need to enhance our vigilance to keep community members healthy. As per our Pandemic Prevention and Response Protocol we continue to:
Share information and protocols with our sister schools in India and MESAC.
Maintain accurate records of absences and the health status of our students.
Provide local staff with information and training in English and Hindi about appropriate steps to prevent the spread of the flu.
Remind students and staff to wash their hands regularly. Hand sanitizer is available throughout the campus.
Increase the frequency of cleaning and sanitizing of all classrooms, common areas and buses.
Observe visitors for any flu-like symptoms and alerting health professionals as needed.
The ASIAC tournament at AIS Chennai this weekend is continuing as planned. The ISTA Festival, which only includes students from India, is still being hosted at AES in two weeks time.
Please note that other international student travel events in March have been cancelled or postponed. Many teacher professional learning trips have been cancelled.
Events and trips in April will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, as the situation develops. At this point, MESAC trips to Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are still being planned.
Other precautionary measures are under consideration (at this time ONLY under consideration):
Mandatory temperature checks before entering the school’s campus for all community members or guests.
Surveying community members on health and travel status.
Preparing for online learning
How You Can Help – Reminders
Observe abundant caution when considering international travel.
Should your child be sick, please keep him/her at home until fever/symptom-free for a full 24 hours.
Practice healthy hygiene habits and use the hand sanitizer available on campus.
Any questions or family information we need can be shared with our Health Office (nurses@aes.ac.in).
We appreciate that an unpredictable and dynamic situation can increase community anxiety. It is important that we continue to stay focused on the facts and what we can do to remain healthy. If you have not travelled from areas where COVID-19 is spreading, or have not been in close contact with someone who has and is feeling unwell, your chances of being infected are currently low. It is important as a community that we remain informed with reliable information from the WHO, CDC and regional medical authorities. This helps us as a community to stop rumours and misinformation, and maintain health and safety within our school.
COVID-19 Official Resources
World Health Organization (WHO) – COVID-19 Update – All Situation Reports
Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Home
Center for Disease Control COVID-19 Home
Sincerely,
Jim Laney