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Austrian statistics also suggest that schools are not hot spots of the crown: in schools, seven percent of index cases (known starting points of a chain of infection) are in the 10-14 age group, 23 percent in the 15-18 age group. Years and 70 percent. There are no documented cases of the result of a chain of infection in children under the age of ten in Austria.
The data makes it clear: many more young people were infected during the holidays than when they were in school. As soon as school starts, the percentage of infected children and adolescents drops dramatically. Strenger can only guess why this is so: “It may be the hygiene rules that are most consistently followed here.”
Children have the right to education
For pediatricians it is clear: “As long as school closings are not shown to influence the pandemic, there is no reason to close schools,” says Reinhold Kerbl. On the contrary: “Children have the right to development and education. Austria has ratified it as part of the EU Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
With the “distance learning” form of instruction, children would actually only learn an average of two hours a day. “That is very little. As a result, students lack structure. They sit too much in front of the screen, eat too much and exercise too little. This has consequences for health, mental and physical. Also because social are very important There is a lack of contacts, ”says Kerbl, who has already noticed an increase in psychosomatic problems among children and adolescents.
Hygiene’s norm
Before schools are closed, all other options should be used first: “There is still a lot to do in schools. For example, you could make sure there is enough distance between students and teachers. One option is a newly developed plexiglass that teachers can use. This protects against the spread of aerosols. Communication would be done through a microphone. “
The microbiologist sees it differently
Microbiologist Michael Wagner does not share the opinion of pediatricians. “Children can become infected and also have high levels of infectious virus in the throat. The only thing that works a little to counteract the spread of the virus through children is that they have milder symptoms than adults and therefore expel fewer viruses. They also have less volume of respiration. On the other hand, they have more social contacts. ” However: “If you catch a cold with coughing and sneezing at the same time, it can quickly happen that the SARS-CoV-2 viruses are also tolerated.”
