Isabela school on lockdown after student gets COVID

TUGUEGARAO CITY—The campus of Isabela Colleges in Cauayan City has been placed on lockdown since last week after a coronavirus-infected student attended the orientation and distribution of modules at the school.

The school management was still tracing the 16 classmates of the student who registered for the college’s professional education program.

The student is also an employee of the city’s rural health unit where she could have been exposed to the virus. Before attending the class orientation on Aug. 29, she had already been identified as a “person under investigation” for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and was scheduled for swab testing.

CHEd order

On Wednesday, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) issued a show-cause order against the school for violating health protocols. It gave the school 10 days to explain its failure to comply with the order prohibiting face-to-face classes during the pandemic.

The CHEd’s Cagayan Valley office confirmed that the school began conducting last month a series of “orientation sessions” every Saturday.

CHEd Chair Prospero de Vera said the agency had advised higher education institutions to refrain from conducting in-person classes or mass gatherings on their campuses. —REPORTS FROM VILLAMOR VISAYA JR. AND MEG ADONIS