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On Friday, Stockholm’s infection control recommended that all upper secondary schools in the region should switch to distance learning for the remainder of the fall term.
– It is a sign that it is now a serious situation. That we leave the children at home is not an easy decision, but we hope we can break some chains of infection in this way, says Maria Rotzén Östlund, infection control doctor in the region.
About 11,000 new cases by covid-19 has been confirmed this week in Stockholm. About 90 people are being cared for in intensive care and about 800 patients are hospitalized, according to the Stockholm infection control doctor on Friday.
– We must do what we can to reduce the spread of infection and reduce our social contacts. We have always guarded the school if children have the right to education, but now it is also so short until the Christmas holidays that we believe this can be implemented without the same consequences.
Maria Rotzén Östlund has independently made the decision on upper secondary schools and then informed the Public Health Agency about the measure.
Now he is discussing the issue with the municipalities, which are responsible for informing the schools. Schools, in turn, will inform staff and students how distance education will be handled at each school.
Children are not a driving force in the spread of infections, according to, among others, the Swedish Public Health Agency and the World Health Organization, WHO. The infectivity of children has not been reassessed, says Maria Rotzén Östlund.
– We support it, but at the same time there is infection at these ages. When children go from school to their families, many social contacts are generated and, in addition, there are also adult staff on site, he says.
Early december The government announced that upper secondary schools in Sweden should close for on-site teaching for the remainder of the fall term, in order to reduce the spread of the infection. But this is the first time a similar measure has been taken for high school students in Stockholm.
Several of the municipalities in the region, including the city of Stockholm, Huddinge, Haninge and Sollentuna, already announced on Friday afternoon that all municipal upper secondary schools will be closed in accordance with the new recommendation.
Several primary schools in the Stockholm region are already closed as a result of outbreaks of infection. In some cases, the principal closes schools, for example, if the company is unable to function due to too many sick leave among staff. In cases where infection control in the region is involved and decides closure, it is usually the students who have become infected as well.
Maria Rotzén Östlund emphasizes that distance education is not enough, if the inhabitants of Stockholm do not also reduce their social contacts in their free time. It also strongly recommends that all employers work to ensure that their staff work from home “to the extent possible.”
How do you see the risk of high school students seeing this as a longer Christmas break, with more time to hang out with friends?
– They must also have distance education, so as not to have free time. But then we hope that high school students will also take responsibility. We want them to have as few social contacts as possible and even if they meet a few friends there will probably be fewer contacts than at school.
