School closings again: Anschober does not commit – Coronavirus Vienna

At a press conference on Thursday, Anschober referred to the planned examination of the effects of the current measures: “I have always said that we will start evaluating after 10 days. Today we have the 10th.”

According to Anschober, not only the infection rate in schools is taken into account, but also the effects that other measures would have on the “general system”. The “great success in spring with the closure at that time” was, from the point of view of the Minister of Health, a success because it resulted in a “drastic reduction of contacts and meeting situations.”

In the spring, “exercise intensity” was cut from half to a quarter, Anschober said. We will now look at all areas to see how many cases of infection occur in a given area and how these areas affect exercise intensity, from gastronomy to retail to schools, Anschober outlined the evaluation criteria for other measures.

Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) had emphasized on Wednesday that the issue of school closures is now in the hands of Anschober and the government.

Anchober left it open when new measures could be decided. In any case, the hospital capacity forecast calculations should also be included in the decision. The main problem here is the availability of intensive care beds. These numbers are reported every morning, so not only is the number of beds available (or the question of how many beds can be reassigned for corona patients) evaluated, but also how many illnesses are among the medical staff.

The SPÖ recently resolutely affirmed its rejection of potential school closures in the wake of strict crown measures. That would be “a measure of little benefit and great harm,” party chairwoman Pamele Rendi-Wagner told a news conference. Education spokeswoman Sonja Hammerschmid called instead for extensive protective measures to keep schools open.

The SPÖ recently resolutely affirmed its rejection of potential school closures in the wake of strict crown measures. That would be “a measure of little use and great harm,” party chairwoman Pamele Rendi-Wagner told a news conference. Education spokeswoman Sonja Hammerschmid called instead for extensive protective measures to keep schools open.

School closings would be the opposite of accuracy and effectiveness, because there is no database for them, Rendi-Wagner argued. Both AGES and international studies and experience would show that school-age children up to 14 years of age do not play an important role in the spread of the virus. The childhood infection rate has even decreased, Hammerschmid emphasized. However, the closure of schools would cause damage to the health, psychological and educational of children. The SPÖ president also pointed out that in addition to the upper school students, around 700,000 children and their parents would be affected by the care. Therefore, Rendi-Wagner called on the federal government to block the door to the virus with effective measures, but to keep the door to schools open for children.

As for security measures to keep schools open, Hammerschmid called for regular tests and exams for teachers and for teachers to wear a mask. Additionally, gurgling tests should be extended, additional rooms rented, and rooms briefly ventilated every 20 minutes.

Rendi-Wagner would only agree to a full shutdown, including school closings, if the think tank it convened, which is to assess and evaluate the measures, proposes such a thing. The fact that the government is already talking about tightening, although the incubation period is 10 to 14 days and the current measures are only in effect from November 2, is “doubtful”. Hammerschmid was “stunned” by the declaration of the Minister of Education, Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP), that closing schools would not be his only decision.

In general, Rendi-Wagner accuses the federal government of “capitulating to the virus.” She justifies this with the fact that only 7.5 percent of cases can be tracked. Contact tracing, the most effective weapon against the pandemic, is clearly not working. The government did not use daylight saving time to expand contact tracing capabilities.

NEOS chief Beate Meinl-Reisinger called at a press conference Thursday that the decision on tightening the crown measures and possible additional school closings only be made after the weekend. The peak of infections from pre-lockdown is to be expected these days and there is now a “chaos of numbers” in the data for new infections. This lacks the basis for an evidence-based decision.

School closures should be “last way” if the health system threatens to collapse due to the number of corona infections. “The end of lessons at school for compulsory school children is not the beginning of lessons at home, it is the end of lessons and the end of the education and social contacts that are so important,” Meinl said. -Reisinger, referring to the negative effects of school closings on students from socially disadvantaged families, on the psyche of children, on employees and on jobs. “Homeschooling and the home office don’t go together. Period.” There is a risk of burning fathers, especially mothers, and factories that are still open could be in jeopardy due to employee care responsibilities. Parents may also have to rely on grandparents for the care of children and could potentially endanger their health.

As a more forgiving means in lieu of school closings, NEOS proposes, among other things, an expansion of the mask requirement for students to avoid further school closings. In addition, the intention is to switch to other classrooms for lessons, such as disused dance halls, and to avoid the backlog of students on the way to school at different start times, according to education spokesperson Martina Künsberg Sarre.

Meinl-Reisinger emphasized her concern that measures will be taken again that mean massive cuts in people’s lives. “We are dealing with de facto malfunctioning health authorities,” he said, citing problems with testing, follow-up of contacts and prompt delivery of separation decisions. If authorities can no longer isolate potentially K1-positive individuals, then they and the state will not be able to combat the pandemic. In order to act again, contact tracing must be delivered by the health authorities of the federal states to the AGES, and massive assistance is required from the Armed Forces to support segregation and capacity testing, an expansion of the headquarters and measures to encourage the population to do so. move to actually comply with behavioral measures to contain Corona.

If the FPÖ has its way, school closures cannot be a means to combat the corona pandemic. “For us this is not an option, schools must remain open,” emphasized education spokesman Hermann Brückl at a press conference on Thursday. The upper classes, whose lessons have been switched to distance learning for almost two weeks, should also return to the classroom.

The FPÖ was the only parliamentary party that opposed the closure of schools from the beginning. They are a great burden for families and would suppose social isolation, loss of motivation and daily structure for students, even now more and more students suffer complaints such as insomnia and fear of the future. Also, schools are not drivers of the pandemic. “We are in the process of creating a lost generation,” he warned. And: “Parents are now more afraid of homeschooling than of Corona.” If Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) closed schools, then-Minister of Education Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP), who had always campaigned for open schools, would be ready to resign.

In order to keep schools open despite the pandemic, Brückl relies not only on compliance with hygiene measures and distance rules, but also on class division, a division into morning and afternoon classes. , flexible start and end times for lessons, use of Plexiglas panels and quick tests. He asked the government for a long-term strategy so that the virus does not disappear.

Health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak criticized the database to justify the lockdown: the data on new infections is incorrect, there are deviations from 30 to 100 percent. He also questioned the occupancy rates for hospital beds. In addition, the government was unable to quantify the expected effects of the measures it has taken, such as reducing the growth rates of new infections.

The government missed the “health policy mobilization” for the second wave of the corona pandemic. There is no reliable data yet to serve as the basis for forecasting calculations, there have been no increases in contact follow-up and no comprehensible increases in treatment capabilities in the intensive care field, although a lot of money has been spent on equipment doctors like ventilators, and there is still no clear one Distribution of powers within the federal government.

As long as the federal government and Health Minister Rudolf Anschober had not done their homework here, it was “completely inappropriate to go on talking about or adopting unvalidated, excessive and apparently ineffective measures, especially if they protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Austrian citizens. “. restrict both. “