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Despite the change of the traffic light from Corona to orange in seven districts, “the schools are still yellow and so are the universities.” Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) emphasized this at a press conference on Tuesday. Follow the recommendation of the traffic light commission. The infection process shows that it is “epidemiologically justifiable” to keep educational institutions open.
It was originally said that high schools in the “orange” districts could switch to homeschooling. Since the beginning of the school, there have been 202 verified cases of infection among schoolchildren and 28 among educators, according to the minister. Only four percent of the cases are school-related, there are no clusters, and very rarely are there broadcasts in the area that is of “subordinate importance,” Fassmann said of students under the age of twelve.
Therefore, in consultation with experts, it was decided to “decouple the traffic light color measurements.” Students, teachers and parents need stability and not daily changes. Universities could also continue with their previous plans for the winter semester starting in early October under the above conditions.
Faßmann stated, however, that there was “a problem” with the rapid testing of suspected cases in schools. It is an “empirical fact: it takes too long,” said the minister. It is not acceptable to leave “classes in limbo” in suspected cases, if it is also seen that the existing testing capabilities at the Vienna Biocenter, for example, are not being used. The minister emphasized that he will work to ensure that these resources enter the system, referring to the monitoring of tests in schools from the end of September.
