MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday said it has received reports of learners and school personnel who caught COVID-19 ahead of the full implementation of face-to-face classes on Nov. 2.

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But DepEd Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said the agency had no "accurate" COVID-19 figures to divulge yet.

"Talaga pong meron na tayong natatanggap na mga reports ng COVID cases or cases kung saan nagpo-positive ang ating learners, ang ating teachers, or non-teaching staff," he told reporters.

"However, as to the exact figure, we cannot give you an accurate figure just yet kasi po we need to verify the info with doon naman sa tracking na ginagawa ng LGUs and perhaps verify the data also with DOH," he added.

(We are receiving reports of COVID cases or cases where our learners, teachers or non-teaching staff test positive. However, as to the exact figure, we cannot give you an accurate figure just yet because we need to verify the info with the tracking that LGUs are doing and perhaps verify the data also with DOH.)

Poa assured the public that DepEd is closely monitoring the situation in schools and asking them to implement infection containment strategies to avoid any COVID surge, given that infections are "expected" in gatherings in closed spaces like schools.

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To date, 90 percent of around 47,000 public schools nationwide are implementing blended learning, which is a combination of in-person classes and distance learning like modules and online classes.

• Several schools already implementing full F2F classes ahead of November deadline

Poa reiterated plans to institutionalize blended learning to address classroom shortage, and ease administrative tasks of teachers so that they can focus more on teaching.

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