Update Tuesday, October 11

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

We have been so excited and humbled to have all of our students back on campus daily. We are also excited that in our Middle School and High School Divisions we have a high vaccination rate against COVID-19 among students. For students 12 years of age and above who are vaccinated against COVID-19 if you have not done so yet please submit the vaccination certificate or card on the ASD COVID-19 Vaccination Form. You may also send this directly to the nurses at laureen.tordecillas@asd.edu.qa or carmen.jones@asd.edu.qa. Please DO NOT send an Ehteraz screenshot as this won’t be sufficient documentation.

Please be mindful that after break those who have students 12 years of age and older that have not presented a vaccination card or certificate will be required to undergo weekly testing. The families who have opted not to vaccinate their student and to do the weekly testing will receive the link to upload results weekly. If this is not done students will no longer be able to access campus until we receive the necessary documentation.

Have a restful and enjoyable break!

Update Thu, Sep 30

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

We are very pleased that we have received so many responses to our COVID-19 vaccination form. We are now able to more readily and quickly see who is vaccinated against COVID-19 and plan accordingly. If you have not yet filled out this form and you have a fully vaccinated student at home please click here to access it. Make sure you have the vaccination certificate or card accessible because a picture of it will need to be uploaded. Please also ensure that the documentation has the dates of both shots notated on it. According to the form responses, approximately 39% of our Middle School students and about 66% of our High School students are vaccinated against COVID-19. (Please be mindful that our MS population as a whole also includes students who are not yet eligible for vaccination based on age and the lower percentage reflects this.)

In addition, we also ask parents to be mindful in regards to student illness. If your student is out sick and they receive medical clearance but are still symptomatic and not well please keep them home until their symptoms resolve or are minimal. We have noticed that often if students are out for a longer period of time they will be reassessed by a doctor before giving final clearance to return to school.

Kind Regards,

ASD Nursing

Update Sep 9, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

A Reminder About Sickness

This serves as a friendly reminder to please be mindful to keep your children home when they are exhibiting ANY of the following symptoms:

• Fever

• A severe headache

• Body aches

• Cough

• Nasal congestion or a runny nose

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Abdominal pain

• Diarrhea

• Nausea or vomiting

• Fatigue coupled with any of the above symptoms

If students are absent, teachers will inquire about why. It is imperative if sickness is the reason that this is reported. Please be mindful that if illness is reported teachers will then report it to Nursing and an email will come from the Head Nurse, Carmen Jones. This email will explain that in order for the student to return medical clearance with a diagnosis OR a negative COVID-19 test is needed for students to return to school. If clarification or assistance is needed contact information is in the email. Being fully vaccinated will not be a replacement for medical clearance after reported illness.

COVID-19 Vaccination

Do you have a fully vaccinated student? If so you should fill out this form for each fully vaccinated student in your household that attends ASD. This helps us to get information to families, work with MoPH, and allow your student to participate more fully in school activities. Make sure to have your student’s vaccination documentation ready when doing this form because it is required to upload.

In the upcoming weeks updates are being made to the Nursing Sahifa page and all information will be available there for reference.

Have A Good Weekend!

ASD Nurses

Update August 26, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

We are excited to welcome students back to campus this year. We want to give some reminders to aid us in keeping our ASD community healthy:

Quarantine Upon Arrival to Qatar

Please be mindful if you are traveling back in the country that you adhere to the quarantine rules that Qatar has implemented. We understand that people are given various instructions in regards to quarantine based on where they have traveled from, vaccination status, age, etc. We at ASD ask that you are honest and follow the below quarantine guidelines based on MoPH directives:

Returning from a Red Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to a home quarantine of 10 days.

Returning from a Yellow Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to a home quarantine of 7 days.

Returning from a Green Country- Unvaccinated children aged (0-11) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents are exempted from quarantine if they are coming from a green-listed country. Unvaccinated children aged (12-17) traveling with their fully vaccinated parents shall be subject to 5 days of home quarantine if they are coming from a green listed country

All vaccinated students are exempt from quarantine, however, depending on the country from where you traveled, there may be directives to have a PCR performed within 48-72 hours of arrival. If this is the case please do not send the student to school until they have received their negative PCR results.

Vaccinated Students

In addition, if you have a student that is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 please do not forget to fill out this form for EACH vaccinated student. (If you have more than one vaccinated student you need to fill out a separate form for each student) This will allow us to give you a better picture of what percentage of our students are vaccinated and aid us in keeping track of which students are vaccinated as well.

Absences Related to Sickness

Please remember if your student shows any signs of sickness to please keep them at home and follow up with a doctor. Last year the nursing department worked very hard to track absences related to illness and to ensure that students who were out sick were only returning to campus after obtaining medical clearance from a doctor. This year we will still be implementing this policy and will do our best to follow up on all sickness related absences to ensure that when students return to school they are safe!

Please keep in mind that keeping the ASD community safe from COVID-19 requires participation and compliance from all members of the ASD community. This will require continued transparency in regards to the health of our students, faculty and staff, and our households.

Have a Good Weekend!

Update: August 19, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing

The Nursing Department is busy trying to gauge how many of our eligible students have already been FULLY vaccinated against COVID-19. If your child has received the COVID-19 vaccine, please fill out the survey. If your child has not received the vaccine yet but you plan to have them vaccinated, please wait until your student is fully vaccinated before filling out this survey. The survey will remain active until further notice. In addition, if you have more than one vaccinated student in your house please fill out the survey for EACH vaccinated student. Please do not combine students in one survey response. We look forward to sharing this information with you all as we get responses. Looking forward to a safe, healthy, and productive school year.

Please fill out the form HERE.

Update: May 27, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

As the school year concludes we want to say a huge thank you for being patient with us and all of your understanding as we worked to navigate the pandemic and make things as safe and easy as possible for everyone. We want to leave everyone with some reminders as we head into the summer.

• Please be mindful of your emails and check to see if you have any reminders from the Nursing staff. Everyone has the duration of the summer to complete any outstanding vaccinations or other documentation that may be needed to complete your student’s health file. If you have received no emails from us your students are up to date. However, please be mindful if you have received a message because it is important that these items are completed before students resume on campus next year.

• Seniors or any other students that may need a copy of their vaccination records please keep in mind that Sunday, June 6 will be the final day that the nurses will be able to send records. Following that date, this documentation will not be able to be distributed until August.

• Lastly, we will be checking our email less frequently over the summer months. If you send documentation or have any other questions please be patient with us and we will be sure to confirm receipt or address your questions when time permits.

Have a Safe, Healthy, and Wonderful Summer!

Parents have inquired about other vaccines for their students, particularly their graduating Seniors, that are recommended but not required by ASD. Below is a list of a few vaccines that are not required to attend ASD but still are worth thinking about.

• COVID-19 Vaccine: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are currently conducting clinical trials in children younger than 16, and many students locally 16 years of age and older have already gotten the vaccine. It is not out of the realm of possibility as more becomes known about this vaccine in children that it could become a requirement to attend school worldwide as many other scheduled vaccines are.

• Meningococcal Vaccine-:The CDC gives a thorough explanation as to why they believe this vaccine is worth thinking about in the preteen and teenage years. Many universities may ask for this vaccine to be given or a booster dose after 16 years of age.

• Human Papilloma Vaccine (HPV): This vaccine was first introduced in the US in 2006. HPV is a virus that can cause cervical cancer. This vaccine is recommended in many countries for children and adolescents and dosing varies based on the child’s age when they receive the vaccine for the first time. Since boys can be carriers of HPV it is advised that girls and boys both be given the HPV vaccine.

When lockdown measures are lifted or if you are traveling to your home country where it may be possible, please see a doctor and go over your child’s routine vaccines as well as any additional that your doctor may suggest. Then rest easy in the assurance that you have properly protected your child in the face of disease wherever they may go.

Articles by

Carmen Jones

ASD Head Nurse

Update, Thursday, April 15, 2021

Ramadan Kareem!

We hope that week 2 of TVS has been productive for our learners, parents, teachers, and ASD community as a whole. The Nursing staff truly misses having students in the building. However, we also understand the necessity of the current lock down to curb the spread of COVID-19. Last year when the pandemic began ASD Nurses started a newsletter called The Harbinger: The Nurses Guide to Navigating COVID-19. Our goal in this weekly newsletter was to share information rooted in evidence based practice from sources such as the MOPH, WHO, and CDC. Our plan is to deliver this content to you again a year later so we may all understand together the current status of COVID-19 in 2021. We plan to bring you some insightful and informative articles in the upcoming weeks.

Here are some other reminders and information for the upcoming weeks:

• When students miss TVS or virtual learning in each division due to illness the Nursing Department does not need a medical clearance note. This practice will resume when students are back on campus. However, while at home if students present with illness and are unable to attend class please reach out to the individual division or teacher to explain the absence.

• ASD Nurses are still available to speak with parents in regards to questions or concerns that they may have around their child’s health and well-being. We will do what we can to assist or try to give you other resources that may help.

• We ask that all families continue to report COVID-19 cases within the household to the school when they occur. This will help us to further understand the amount of exposure in our community for research and planning purposes.

• Parents of High School students who are 16 years of age and older seeking the vaccine: if you can, speak with your child’s doctor about where the student can be vaccinated. We understand that the timing around getting teens vaccinated is time sensitive due to many wanting to travel this summer. A few families have reported successfully getting their teen vaccinated at the QNCC vaccination center.

Wishing everyone an insightful, prosperous, and healthy holy month of Ramadan.

Update, Thursday, March 11, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

Just in time for Spring Break the MoPH has released some new information in regards to rules around vaccination and quarantine in regards to travel. Please click here to view these new rules. Please reach out the Nursing Department if you have any questions at covidhelpdesk@asd.edu.qa.

Update Thursday, March 4, 2020

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

Welcome back to campus. The Nursing department is continuing to do all that we can to ensure that students on campus are healthy and safe to be in school. This serves as a friendly reminder that if you decide to keep your child home for any symptoms related to illness that a doctor's note of medical clearance OR a negative Covid-19 test are required for them to return to campus. We understand there may be exceptions in regards to this occasionally, but in most circumstances the school will insist on this precaution being taken if you decide to keep your student home for being unwell. Stay safe and healthy!

Update Thursday, February 18, 2021

Greetings From ASD Nursing,

Thank you to parents and students for your patience in light of the testing that has had to be done over the last few weeks in regards to new cases on campus. We understand that results within the last week have been slow to turn around. We encourage ASD families to register on the Myhealth Portal. If you have a Hamad health card this is a quicker way to have results made available to you instead of waiting for an SMS text with the results. Please be mindful that ASD only receives results when people test positive. We are not made aware of the results of your students before you are. We rely on families to report to us the results of tests. Therefore, we can offer little to no help, in regards to test results.

In addition, we want to reiterate the importance of adhering to quarantine measures even if your student tests negative. Symptoms can emerge and the virus can appear up to 14 days after initial exposure. Therefore, it is imperative that if your child has signed a quarantine declaration with specified dates that they do not have contact with anyone outside of the household and they remain in isolation throughout the duration of that time.

Please feel free to reach out to us at covidhelpdesk@asd.edu.qa with any questions or concerns and we will do our best to assist.

Update: Thursday, October 1, 2020

Greetings Parents,

Thank you for your continued support and acknowledgment of the efforts of Nursing as we navigate the uncharted waters of bringing students back to campus amidst COVID-19. We want to clarify the policy of clearance in regard to absences due to illness. Please keep in mind if you deem your student unfit for school, for any reason or amount of time, medical clearance documentation from a doctor is required for the student to return to campus. A doctor’s note must be submitted and reviewed by ASD Nursing prior to your student’s return to campus. This is to ensure ASD Nursing that a doctor has assessed the student close to their return to school and sees that the student is fit. Please also be mindful of the following details that should be included in the note:

• contact information of the doctor or the clinic

• a statement clearly saying that the student is cleared to return to school

• a diagnosis of the student, particularly if no COVID-19 test is performed

• the date the student was seen

Please be mindful that these actions are to ensure the safety of your children as well as the ASD community collectively. If there are any doubts, please keep your student home and contact us for any clarification needed. Thank you, parents, for continuing to work with us and understanding the urgency and thoroughness needed for the foreseeable future in regards to illness.

Kind regards,

ASD Nursing

COVID-19 Addendum to Nursing Protocol

Updated September 3, 2020

Greetings! As many have probably guessed the procedure this year for The Nursing Department will look different than it has in the past. It is our goal to further regulate the traffic that comes through the Nursing Clinics as well as highlight some changes in protocol when a student is sick. Please find the biggest changes below:

• Any student who is febrile or symptomatic of respiratory illness on the way into school or during the school day will be put into isolation with a Nurse from their respective division. From this point, parents will have 1 hour to pick up their students before other arrangements are made to get them to a medical facility off-campus.

• If a student is dismissed for having a fever or being symptomatic, their siblings will also be required to leave school.

• Any student who is dismissed with a fever this year will require a doctor’s note from a medical facility with a clear diagnosis and/or documentation of a negative of COVID-19 test to re-enter campus before 14 days.

• We request that if anyone tests positive for COVID-19 in the home that this be communicated with ASD’s Nursing Department and that students in the home are out for at least 14 days. These students will need documentation of medical clearance from a medical facility to return to campus.

• ASD Nurses will be tracing points of contact this year in the event there are any confirmed cases on campus. Parents will be contacted if their student is suspected to have been in contact with a case and will be given further guidance as to the next steps.

As we navigate through this pandemic and return to school the ASD Nurses are moving with compassion. Any sensitive information shared with us will be shared with other parties on a need to know basis. We want to ensure the confidentiality of our students and families while we keep the ASD community safe and healthy. We encourage transparency with any illness in the home and in return we vow to handle the information responsibly. We will be communicating with you all more in the upcoming weeks as we get closer to students returning to campus

In Safety and In Health

The ASD Nursing Team