Although restrictions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus have been further relaxed, some schools in San Pedro Town continue applying the hybrid learning system. Some schools offer face-to-face learning, while others provide a mixture of in-person and online sessions.
At the San Pedro High School, they continue with in-person and online classes. This initiative started in December 2021, only allowing at-risk students to attend physical instruction while the student body continued online learning. Other governmental schools like the San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School are also hybrid. The primary school hopes to transition to full in-person sessions slowly. Some students attend classes a couple of times during a particular week. Then the other week, they continue with long-distance learning.
Most pre-schools like ABC Preschool, Little Angels Pre School, San Pedro Pre School, Island Academy, and Ambergris Caye Elementary School continue offering full physical instruction. Some of these schools have provided face-to-face sessions since October of last year. They are all observing strict COVID-19 restrictions to avoid infections in the classrooms.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in March 2020, schools were closed. Students all over the country remained out of classes for months. The re-starting of classes was affected by events in the pandemic and industrial action by teachers after the government proposed a 10% pay cut because of the economic crisis. The current figure of COVID-19 cases, as per the Ministry of Health and Wellness, continues to show fewer positive cases every day. As of Monday, March 14th, only 372 active cases were reported countrywide. The daily reports for San Pedro Town are back to single digits. The total number of deaths due to complications caused by the virus stands at 652 since the pandemic started in 2020.
The significant decrease in cases has led the government to ease its COVID-19 restrictions. Effective March 1st, curfew was removed, and masks were no longer required outdoors. Masks are still mandatory when entering public buildings, including churches, government buildings, stores, and supermarkets, and should be worn when using public transportation and attending events such as a funeral or wedding. The government also hinted that if the pandemic becomes endemic, the remaining restrictions could be removed by April 1st of this year.
