Berlin Germany’s students and teachers have been slowly returning to a more or less normal academic routine over the past few weeks, but have reported to the Federal Health Agency coronavirus infections, schools are in a difficult position.
Just a few days after a number of German states reopened their schools, some were forced to close again, either in part or in full, or to oblige some students and teachers to quarantine.
Two weeks after the start of the new school year in the capital, Berlin, 38 schools have sent some students and teachers home because of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In most cases, however, the schools had only one student as a teacher with an infection, and in all cases it is thought that the infections came from outside the schools. While a few closed a day to wait for test results on some students or staff, none of Berlin’s schools closed completely, and the vast majority in the region – more than 800 – did not report any cases.
“Not a hot spot”
Crucially, two weeks in, tests showed no evidence that anyone had contracted the coronavirus at a school.
FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS
“So far, these have been isolated cases and not outbreaks,” said Valerie Kirchberger, a pediatrician and coordinator of Berlin’s test strategy, led by Charité University Hospital, a local newspaper. “That worries me.”
“Almost two weeks after the start of the school year, we can see that the schools themselves are not a hot spot. Infections are usually carried out in schools from outside,” said Berlin Schildes Minister Sandra Scheeres in a statement.
Instead, it is believed that returning summer vacationers are behind the recent peak in the national infection battle – one reason mandatory testing has been introduced for anyone returning from regions that are considered high risk.
German politicians strongly agree that students should be allowed to return to schools, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that if governments do not give priority to classroom learning, there will be a “catastrophe for a whole generation ”can be.
But many educators, and parents, are still nervous.
Risks against “relief”
The German National Union of Teachers, the GEW, sees a return to normal school operations as high risk, in part because the government’s health authorities have not yet inspected all schools to check their anti-virus measures and hygiene plans.
But Lisa Kandler, a primary school teacher in Berlin, told CBS News that she has not seen any serious COVID-19 cases among children, and that she is not panicking.
“For our teachers, I think the risks are not higher than anywhere else. It would have been very difficult for us to continue teaching online, especially those children who just started first grade. Introduce them in this way. “School life and keeping schools closed is not a good alternative.”
Mothers of parents appear divided. Some doubt about safe schooling is even possible with the pandemic still actively spreading. Others, however, were concerned about the fact that schools remained closed for weeks, while bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen.
But Adina Holle told CBS News that when she heard her 9-year-old son Jonas was returning to school, “it was a great relief.”
“It would have just been impossible to teach him at home while we parents have to work from home,” she said. “The hygiene measures in schools might not be ideal, but isolating children much longer and preventing them from learning and playing with others should be avoided.”
Body of evidence
As in the US and elsewhere, there has been a heated debate in Germany about the role that children and adolescents play in spreading the coronavirus. Both lawyers and skeptics of school opening can find arguments to support their positions in recent scientific studies.
Research conducted at schools in the state of Saxony in May and June suggests a low risk of infection. Another study, conducted in Baden-Württemberg, also found that children are at a much lower risk of the disease than their parents. A study in South Korea concludes that although smaller children are rarely infected, teens can be as infected as adults.
At the same location in the UK, where schools reopened next week, the government was encouraged by a study that does not show much evidence that the virus was transmitted in schools.
“The risks to children of COVID are very low and the risks of school fluency we know are very serious,” said Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health and a member of a key British advisory group. government, told The Sunday Times in reference to the investigation, which involved 3,000 schools.
“I think we should be reassured by the plausibly fairly incomplete and incomplete data we have. But I think we are in a situation of uncertainty. And we are sitting or harming our children a whole generation further, or we are acting on what a small amount of reassuring data, ”he said.
In contrast, U.S. researchers concluded an outbreak in a summer camp that could affect children of all ages, and that they play an important role in transmitting the virus.
Similarly, a study published last week by scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Hospital for Children found that children can actually carry a much higher level of virus in their bodies than adults, even if they do not develop symptoms, and thus, “are a possible source for the spread of this virus, and it should be taken into account in the planning stages for schools again. “
But the calculation is not just about the risks of coronavirus infections.
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, a virologist at the University of Hamburg, told CBS News that even as a feared “second wave” of infections forced Germany to close businesses, keeping day care and schools open to children would be a top priority should be.
“We can not ignore the fact domestic violence increased during the pandemic. “Children need the routine and security of daily school life, especially children who are already being ignored by their parents or who are lagging behind in their development,” he said.
Going forward
The Charité Hospital conducts a long-term study at 24 schools and 12 day care centers in Berlin, and tests the same group of people for both active coronavirus infections and for antibodies at regular intervals. It also provides free COVID-19 tests for all-day and school staff, even if they have no symptoms.
Officials hope data will strengthen the decision to get children back into classes soon. In the meantime, social distance has become an essential part of school life.
Playgrounds are divided into different sections and classes are held separately. In some states, face masks are required at all times, while in other children they only have to be worn when walking through corridors or using playgrounds.
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