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Schools and child care facilities will remain open under new restrictions imposed by the government in an attempt to address an increase in Covid-19 cases.
In announcing the measures, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that “we will not allow our children’s future to be one more victim of this disease.”
He said that the fact that the schools reopened and remained open is due to the extraordinary work of all the school communities.
“They are also on the front line and deserve the gratitude of the nation,” he said. “We will continue to work with school leaders to keep them open.”
Education Minister Norma Foley said the decision “recognizes the overwhelming evidence from our public health experts that schools are a safe environment for our school communities, children and staff members.”
He said the National Public Health Emergency Team has reviewed epidemiological data and recommended that schools remain open during Level 5 restrictions, including in the current trajectory of the disease.
Minister Foley also said that the most recent data shows that 10,513 students and teachers have participated in massive testing, resulting in the detection of 246 additional cases.
He also said that there were no significant changes in the proportion of total weekly Covid-19 cases attributable to children between the ages of 4 and 18 before and after schools reopened (14.3% and 14.1% respectively). ).
Speaking on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he was confident that schools, childcare and universities could remain open during Level 5.
He said he recently received a detailed report from the Department of Education that said “the news is very good from the schools,” largely thanks to the efforts of teachers, principals and students.
Donnelly said the positivity rate in schools is 1.7%, while in the community it is “consistently above 7%” and experts say students are “safer in school than in the community.” .
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One of the country’s secondary teacher unions has called for an “urgent engagement” with the Department of Education on a number of issues.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland said they have particular concerns about the definition of close contacts and casual contacts in schools, and said there is a lack of consistency in this regard.
The union also called for the introduction of rapid tests in schools.
The leader of the Labor Party echoed the call for compromise.
Labor leader Alan Kelly welcomed the decision to keep schools open and said it should be a priority.
However, he said there needs to be a much stronger engagement with stakeholders to have concerns or teachers and school staff heard.
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