At the federal level, the accumulated incidence in the age group between 5 and 14 years old amounted to 1,638.2 new infections on Friday.
The German authorities have chosen to look away from the massive contagions in the classrooms while the omicron variant advances, with the consequent alarm of teachers’ associations and the uncertainty of parents.
In Berlin, with an accumulated incidence this Monday of 1,464.5 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days compared to 840.3 at the federal level, infections among students doubled in a week, with 13,571 infected compared to 6,911 the previous.
The 1,473 cases reported among teachers are also almost double the 774 registered a week ago, while classes closed due to contagion rose from 207 to 397, according to data from the Berlin education authorities on Friday.
This Monday, the cumulative incidence in Berlin in the age group between 5 and 9 was 3,479.5; in the age range from 10 to 14, 3,746.7; between 15 and 19, 2,585.1; and in minors between 0 and 4, 1,325.0.
Anna and Jan have an eight-year-old son in whose class up to seven positives have been accumulating since last Monday, so they chose to leave the child at home while waiting for the quarantine order for his group, which never arrived.
On Friday they decided, not without concern, to take their son to school as they did not present symptoms and quarantine had not been ordered, since in Germany, where education is the power of each federal state, attendance at schools is mandatory and cannot be breached unless there is a justified reason.
As a precaution, the afternoon before they carried out an antigen test at a testing center that was negative; the daily test carried out the next day in class, however, was positive, with which the minor’s classmates were once again exposed to a new source of contagion.
Massive testing strategy and presence in the face of an unstoppable wave
At school they were informed that the strategy that schools must currently follow in the face of the accumulation of infections is to “intensify testing” and send home only positive students and those with symptoms.
The educational authorities of the Berlin district in which this center is located confirm in a letter that “the schools will remain open”, while acknowledging that “the wave of infections, according to the health authorities, is unstoppable and can only be placated” .
“With more than a million antigen tests carried out each week, we can generally avoid major infections,” a source from the Berlin educational authorities told Efe when asked if this strategy is not equivalent to a massive infection of students.
He added that in the meantime, more than 14,000 air filtration kits have been distributed to educational centers and that otherwise, the usual hygiene measures and the use of masks remain in force in schools.
At the federal level, the cumulative incidence in the age group between 5 and 14 years old amounted to 1,638.2 new infections on Friday, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
Speaking to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media, Anja Bensigner-Stolze of the Education and Science Union (GEW) pointed out that “politics have often derisively labeled teachers’ associations alarmist when they are warning of rampant contagion in the schools”.
Schools, in a state of permanent exception
“Now our warnings have unfortunately come true in some federal states,” he said.
The president of the German Association of Teachers (DL), Heinz-Peter Meidinger. He denounced that “instead of normality, many schools are once again in a permanent state of exception” and instead of the “promised security”, the numbers of infections are “higher than ever”.
“Many believe that omicron is milder and therefore why not a massive infection? The cheap vaccine… That would be a big mistake, many people would become seriously ill, often with permanent damage. For our children it would be a absolutely irresponsible experiment,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote recently on Twitter.
The president of the Marburg League doctors’ union, Susanne Johna, pointed out for her part on the ntv network that the school is a “massive event” of “huge importance” for minors and that is why it is necessary to “take a certain risk”.
The feelings among the parents are mixed: probably none of them want to hear about school closures or quarantines again, but many would like, for fear of the current evolution of the pandemic, to at least have the option of leaving their children temporarily in House. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
