“Children should stay home even if they have a cold”

In Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, school for 400,000 children starts on Monday. Starting school is becoming a challenge for teachers, students and parents due to the Corona crisis. Education Minister Faßmann promised “normal operation” despite the pandemic. As an alert system, there will be a crown traffic light in schools, kindergartens and nurseries. Additionally, there will be a Corona officer at many facilities.

In general, increased hygiene, regular room ventilation and, if organizationally possible, moving activities outdoors, especially in kindergartens, apply to schools and kindergartens. childhood. Reinhold Kerbl, head of LKH Leoben’s Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, calls on parents to react to minor illnesses, according to the “Kleine Zeitung.”

“Children should stay home even if they have a cold”

That means: if the child has a cold, cough or fever, he should not go to school or kindergarten, according to the expert. “These infections are often not clearly distinguished from Covid-19,” explains Reinhold Kerbl, head of the Department of Pediatrics at LKH Leoben. The expert does not believe that parents need care because children often get colds in winter. “If everyone sticks to the list, there will be far fewer infections than usual and we will get through the winter well,” says Kerbl.

However, the ÖVP federal minister for women and current Styrian state councilor for education and health, Juliane Bogner-Strauss, calls for “runny nose and cold should not be a reason to prevent children from visiting a center”.