A Health Update from our Health & Wellness Committee

Within the constraints of government requirements and restrictions that we must comply with, where we have discretion, HOPE seeks to implement socially and morally responsible responses that are proportionate to the local pandemic situation.

We recognise that the pandemic is not over anywhere until it is over everywhere. Globally, it looks as though the COVID-19 pandemic will be part of our world's reality for at least the next couple of years, with several waves and changes in circumstances.

We are all very grateful to God that there have been no major outbreaks of COVID-19 in Cambodia to date, and that there has been no evidence of local transmission for months now. As such, we are currently in a privileged, low-risk phase of Cambodia's journey through the pandemic. Only God knows what the future holds for Cambodia, but we need to anticipate and be prepared for multiple phases that will likely include at least one active outbreak in this country.

During the current low-risk phase, we will continue to comply with government guidelines and instructions. We thank families for their cooperation that has allowed us to open the campuses for in-person learning.

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While we are in this low-risk phase:

■      Thank you for keeping your children home when they are sick until they are fully recovered.

■      Only those individuals who are showing symptoms must stay home. Please watch out for emerging symptoms in other members of the household and if other members begin to show symptoms, keep them home as well. But individuals with no symptoms may still come to school even if a family member is sick. This is because in the current low-risk phase, coughs, fevers, etc are most likely to be due to some other virus; the probability of them being COVID-19 is very low.

■      However, if ANY member of the household develops sudden new loss of smell or taste, please keep ALL members of the household home and notify the school. This is because sudden loss of the sense of smell or taste is a symptom that is fairly specific to COVID-19.

This advice will change if we move to a higher level of COVID-19 transmission risk. HOPE is developing staged levels of relaxing or tightening our protective strategies within the framework set by the government. Pandemic stages we could foresee and plan for include:

■      Suspected or confirmed cases of local transmission within Cambodia

■      Suspected or confirmed cases of transmission in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap

■      Suspected or confirmed cases of transmission within our school community