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Keeping kindergartens and schools as open as possible – that’s the stated goal of the federal and state governments for the Corona winter. Because closed facilities have many negative consequences. So how well children learn depends mainly on parents, who unwittingly become teachers, at the expense of their work. Meanwhile, children’s learning levels threaten to diverge widely, depending on how much time Mom and Dad can spend at home school.
However, in view of the high number of infections, it remains questionable under what conditions the schools will remain open. Now a first positive trend is emerging – the number of new infections reported daily remains at a high level – but growth has slowed markedly.
Can anything else save the regular lessons?
Obviously, this is not a source of relief for the chancellor. “The numbers are stabilizing a bit. But too slow, ”Angela Merkel said during a meeting of the CDU presidium, according to the German Press Agency (dpa). A motion for a resolution already brings into play several measures that are supposed to save regular teaching. Exaggerated caution?
In recent weeks, the number of infections detected in children has increased significantly. That comes from a presentation by the Robert Koch Institute that SPIEGEL has received. Consequently, more than 10,400 corona infections were reported in children under the age of 14 in the first week of November. It is unclear how the situation has developed since then. Newer dates are not expected until Tuesday.
For comparison: in early September, fewer than 1,000 infections per week were reported in children under 14 years of age. Seen per week, the number of infections in children has multiplied by ten. The numbers worry RKI experts and could help decide whether the federal and state governments will decide to make the mask mandatory in schools. (You can find an overview of the age distribution of corona infections here.)
It is well known that children are not completely immune to coronavirus infection. “Based on the data so far, Sars-CoV-2 infections appear to be less common in younger children than in adults,” said Jörg Timm, a virologist at Düsseldorf University Hospital, the Science Media Center. “Older children between the ages of 12 and 14 are no longer differentiated from adults.” According to a recent study by Bavaria, six times as many children were infected with the corona virus than is known.
However, in the vast majority of cases, children survive an infection without any problems and, in some cases, do not have any symptoms. But even if complications are extremely rare, the number of children with Covid-19 in hospitals increases with infections.
According to RKI data, 91 children under the age of 14 with Covid-19 had to be treated as hospitalized patients in the first week of November. A reporting system created by the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (PGID) yields similar results. Most children with Covid-19 in the hospital have a fever, inflammation of the airways, and gastrointestinal problems. Only seven percent of the hospital children registered in the registry had to be treated temporarily in the intensive care unit.
The number of hospital cases among children with Covid-19 is still manageable. However, experience has shown that more children with other respiratory infections must be treated in the hospital during the winter months. Therefore, children’s clinics expect an additional burden. The more infections that are prevented in children, the better.
What could be in store for schools?
In order to prevent outbreaks in schools as much as possible, the federal and state governments have outlined several measures in a resolution document that is already in circulation:
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Mandatory mask for all students. and teachers, both during class and on the playground
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Classes must be divided in half and half of students alternate between receiving instruction online and at school
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In addition, children should also be asked to outside of school if possible just to meet a friend
Meanwhile, passages about schools are said to have been removed from the draft resolution, reports dpa. But even if the measures haven’t been decided yet: the dots show what could happen if the numbers don’t drop significantly.
Several prime ministers have long insisted on focusing more on schools. Above all, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, who recently spoke in favor of alternating lessons. “One part is educated at home via the Internet, the other at school,” Söder told the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. Earlier, the CSU politician had also called for a nationwide uniform mask requirement in schools in a show about “Bild.” Until now, each federal state has made its own decisions about hygiene measures in schools.
How useful would it be for all students to wear a mask? Studies show that wearing a mask is a nuisance for children. However, based on all previous surveys, they do not pose a health hazard. A mask does not lead to a critical increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood, even in children. A nationwide study showed that children’s mental health is not adversely affected by face masks.
Therefore, experts in pediatric medicine consider it justified that primary school students also wear masks for a limited time. However, pediatricians do not recommend long bandanas and masks because they can inadvertently wrap the neck and, depending on the material, make breathing very difficult. Correct size surgical masks or self-sewing masks are more suitable.
How contagious are children?
However, the Conference of Education Ministers recently emphasized that schools are not an engine of the pandemic. In a survey conducted by the RKI, only very few infections were found in schools. It is similar in kindergartens. If there were infections there, it was mainly among the teachers.
However, it is not known where three-quarters of those infected with corona were infected. And science is struggling to get clear answers about the role children play in the pandemic. Some studies suggest that children can be as contagious as adults, while others are against it.
The situation in schools is already tense. An estimated 300,000 students were recently quarantined. However, it is impossible to give an exact figure to the value because each federal state collects the data differently. Even who has to be quarantined, just the person sitting next to you or the whole class as a precautionary measure, regulates differently in each country. (Read more about this here).
“Based on the information available so far, it can be assumed that children generally play a lesser role in the transmission of Sars-CoV-2 than in influenza,” said Rafael Mikolajczyk, epidemiologist at Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg University, Science Media Center. “There are also indications that transmission within schools is low, and it can be assumed that hygiene concepts can contribute significantly to reducing risk.”
These days, schools don’t have much more than masks, open window winter jacket lessons, and air filters, some of which are hard to find. Hopefully enough.
