In and around Ngaoundéré, in northern Cameroon, we built a dedicated health control system at school entry points — including observation and isolation areas for suspected cases.
Ngaoundéré lies in northern Cameroon, far from the highland regions where we are usually active — and the starting situation was different: larger schools with more pupils per class, longer travel times for medical staff, and a health system that would have had little capacity for isolation and observation in the event of an outbreak. That's why we chose a more structural approach here than in other regions: building a dedicated control system right at school entry points.
Preventing the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in school facilities in and around Ngaoundéré through a systematic health control, observation and isolation system.
Fixed control points were set up at the entrances of participating schools, where temperature was checked and symptoms screened each morning. Pupils with suspected symptoms were not turned away but cared for in a dedicated observation area until their condition was clarified — keeping education possible without risking uncontrolled spread.
Alongside this, training sessions for teaching staff ensured the controls could continue independently after our direct involvement ended.
The control system at school entry points remained in operation beyond our direct involvement and was continued independently by the schools. No participating school had to close due to a major COVID-19 outbreak.
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