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Of: TT
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Photo: Jessica Gow / TT
In the Stockholm region, it is recommended that schools switch to distance education for upper secondary students, but it is difficult to know how much of the total infection is due to spread in a given environment, such as school. Stock Photography.
In the Stockholm region, schools are advised to switch to distance education for upper secondary students. Even if students in this age group don’t get as sick as adults, they are at risk of taking the infection home, experts say.
The extent to which upper secondary students contribute to the spread of the infection has been discussed throughout the year, but in recent weeks the spread among upper secondary students has increased. Why it’s happening right now is even harder to figure out, according to Anders Lindblom, an infection control doctor in the Dalarna region.
– We believe that the spread of infection among high school students occurs both at school and in free time. Plus, you can spend time between different schools, he says.
– It spreads to the elderly, such as parents and grandparents, when students bring the infection home. But younger people don’t get as seriously ill and don’t appear to be infected to the same extent as older ones, Lindblom continues.
He believes that the recommendations for distance education will reduce the spread of the infection, as the contact areas will decrease, at least temporarily. According to him, there are also many infected teachers in the region.
– Hopefully it will get wet in these environments now through distance education, plus Christmas holidays are soon too. But it’s important that the infrastructure for distance education is in place before schools send students home, says Anders Lindblom.
“Very difficult load”
Tove Fall, a professor in the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University, believes that there are various aspects of the spread of the infection.
– Now it is such a serious situation in the spread of infection. Health care is under a very difficult burden and I understand that is why the region makes this recommendation, says Tove Fall.
One of the aspects is how sensitive you are to becoming infected and transmitting the infection, which varies between different age groups, but also between the susceptibility of people to becoming infected and transmitting the infection.
According to compilations by the World Health Organization, children under the age of ten are less likely to become infected and infect others. Children and teens also tend to have milder symptoms than adults, and they often don’t get as sick.
– It is conceivable that high school students start to resemble adults in terms of the spread of infection, while high school students end up among younger children and adults, says Tove Fall.
Insufficient research
– Does something happen with the spread of infection in society if you close the school? Not much is known about that, because there is not enough research. My opinion is that these recommendations may slow the spread in the region to some extent, but it is difficult to say how much it continues.
According to Fall, several regions should have been more active during the fall when they saw the spread of the infection in different upper secondary classes and temporarily conducted distance education in the groups where the infection was found.
– We know that there was an infection among high school teachers during the fall. But it is always difficult to translate how much of the total infection is driven by spread in a given environment. But the school environment is also one where it’s difficult to keep your distance, says Tove Fall.
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