Health and Safety

If a student or member of staff is suspected of being a positive COVID-19 case, they will be immediately taken to the school isolation room. Only the school medical and emergency services team are permitted to enter the isolation room and only if wearing full PPE. The student’s parents will be contacted immediately by the school doctor and the required authorities will be notified. The school will strictly adhere to the health authority requirements for managing and transferring any suspected cases of COVID-19. All areas that may have been accessed by a suspected case will be immediately closed and thoroughly deep cleaned and sanitised. In addition, tentative tracing will be conducted to identify those who may have come into contact with the case should the test result come back positive. Each school has a detailed medical procedure plan in place, which details the emergency procedures for each school. This is continuously developed in consultation with the GEMS Health and safety and medical teams.

Once a positive case is confirmed, the relevant person will immediately self-isolate for a period of 14 days, while the school leadership/medical team will notify and  work with health authorities to identify those that have come in close contact with the positive case. Close contacts will be contacted by the school’s principal to advise that they stay in self-isolation for 14 days. It is therefore critical that the contact details on file with the school are accurate and up to date. This includes email addresses and mobile phone numbers. Sanitisation of all exposed areas in the school will also be carried out.

As defined by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, a close contact is anyone who has been in close proximity – a distance of less than two metres – to a positive case for longer than 15 minutes. This could include people with whom you study, work or travel on a bus, as well as family members and anyone that resides in your home. Contact tracing will begin from two days before the onset of symptoms for symptomatic cases, or from the day on which the sample of a positive PCR test result was taken for asymptomatic cases.

Anyone required to self-isolate must stay at home for 14 days, during which they should monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19. If they develop symptoms, they should seek medical advice immediately and get a PCR test. Should they test positive, they must notify their school immediately. For more information, call 800 DHA (800 342) or visit https://www.dha.gov.ae/en/Covid19/Documents/Bilingual%20Home%20Quarantine%20Guide.pdf

After self-isolating for a full 14 days, the person should report to their school’s health clinic, but only if they are symptom-free. Our medical team will assess them for signs and symptoms and, if cleared, the health clinic will provide them with a School Clearance Certificate that can be presented to the divisional secretary, teacher or line manager, enabling them to return to class or work.

Anyone returning to school after a positive test result must present a De-Isolation Certificate from their local health authority if they reside in Sharjah or Dubai, or two consecutive negative PCR results if they reside in Abu Dhabi or Ras Al Khaimah. They must subsequently report to their school’s health clinic for assessment, to make sure they are clear of signs and symptoms, after which they will be issued a School Clearance Certificate that should be presented to their divisional secretary, teacher or line manager to enable them to return to class or work.

All GEMS schools are enforcing a “stay at home if unwell” policy that applies to any student, teacher and school staff with symptoms. We encourage parents to check their child’s temperature before leaving home and to keep their child at home if they are displaying any symptoms that can qualify them as a suspected case of COVID-19. Symptoms may include one or more of the following:

• Fever (≥ 37.5°C)
• Cough
• Body ache or fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Diarrhoea and nausea
• Headache
• Loss of sense of smell or taste

Thermal cameras pare laced at all points of entry to the school campus. These will detect a body temperature of 37.5°C and above, which is considered a fever. Children will not be allowed on campus if they have a body temperature of 37.5°C and above, as per the regulations, and parents will be expected to collect their children as soon as possible, as they will be denied entry to the school campus.

Everyone should continue to follow fundamental safety practices that include wearing face masks, practicing social distancing, observing good hand hygiene practices and staying at home if feeling unwell.

All staff wear full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and follow a strict process of regular hand washing, replacing disposable items and social distancing. Each cleaning staff member undergoes a compulsory temperature check at their accommodation.

Staff buses are used to transport staff, with an increased cleaning and disinfection regime in place for staff buses using approved disinfectants. Buses are currently operating at reduced capacity to meet social distancing requirements. Cleaning staff are temperature checked upon leaving the company accommodation, prior to entering the bus.

Yes, all visitors to schools are temperature screened using thermal cameras. Anyone with a temperature of 37.5°C and above will be permitted to wait for five minutes at a designated location, after which a second check will be conducted. If the temperature remains high, they will not be permitted to enter the school.

GEMS follows the highest health and safety standards. GEMS is certified to ISO 45001, which is the global standard for health and safety management systems. GEMS is one of only very few globally accredited education companies that meet this ISO standard.

Yes, GEMS has established a taskforce that includes stakeholders from all relevant departments within the organisation. Moreover, each school has a dedicated and trained team of medical and safety professionals, in addition to a central team of senior health and safety professionals.

All GEMS service providers are selected based upon their high health and safety standards. Our transport and facility maintenance companies, for example, are both ISO certified to the same high standards.

Our schools and central teams are in regular communication with the UAE regulatory authorities. We work closely with them on each positive case that is identified, which helps to ensure a consistent and collaborative approach.

Yes, GEMS has developed a number of such solutions, including an electronic reporting system and an electronic track and trace system. Both systems have proven very successful in our management of cases and close contacts.