RIYADH — The Ministry of Health official spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali stated that the biggest challenge now is to achieve the safety of students during their return to schools for in-person studies. During a press conference here, the spokesperson stated that students must adhere to healthy personal behaviors to ensure their safe return, while considering the biggest role in adhering to the precautionary measures. He pointed out the importance of the family's role in returning to school. They need to educate their children on the need to use facemasks and sanitizers and alerting them to the correct behavior when any symptoms appear by contacting them and presenting themselves to medical care. The spokesperson confirmed the minister of education's speech with regard to the return to schools on the students need to be vaccinated fully. Those who have not completed the two-dose vaccination will be considered absent until they are vaccinated with both the doses. He stressed that the Delta variant is present in the Kingdom, and many cases of this variant have been recorded in different regions. "Delta Variant is considered as the fastest spreading in the world, and it has triggered most of the cases around the world," Dr. Al-Abdel Ali warned. He noted that the vaccine is necessary for pregnant woman and is safe at all stages of pregnancy. Dr. Al-Abdel Ali confirmed that Saudi Arabia has witnessed a downward curve in the weekly infection map and the epidemiological indices of coronavirus cases is moving towards a positive direction. The Kingdom revealed Sunday 384 infections, with the total number of cases being 541,994 For his part, Dr. Emad Al-Mohammadi a preventive medicine and public health consultant in The Public Health Authority (Weqaya) said that the social protocols are updated periodically. He added that the Ministry of Education has been keen to create guiding protocols to help the students' return to school safely, as it focuses on the students' journey from the beginning of their day to the end of school hours. Saudi Arabia has administered more than 34 million doses of the vaccine since the start of vaccination.
