The ministries of Health, Education and Universities and the councilors of all the autonomous communities will meet this Tuesday to agree on the criteria to be followed in a back to school that coincides with the expansion of the omicron variant of the covid-19 virus. Nobody puts on the table the possibility that the return to the classroom is delayed or that it occurs in a non-face-to-face way, neither partially nor totally. After the period of strict confinement, we were all aware of the value of face-to-face contact between educators and students, and of the emotional costs and in terms of equity, of not being present. And the school community, teachers, parents and students, has shown to be capable of applying the successive health protocols that have been set in an exemplary way without altering the school calendar. If this was possible in tougher times, it should be now as well.
Although definitive statements cannot be issued – during the two years of the pandemic there have been hasty conclusions that have had to be reviewed over and over again due to the unpredictable evolution of the events – evidence is already accumulating that the wave caused because of the omicron variant it is much more infectious but much less lethal. Either because of its intrinsic characteristics, or because of the degree of immunity that the population has acquired thanks to the vaccine or infection with previous variants of the virus. Neither the death toll nor those admitted to critically ill units have followed the rising rate of the infection curve. Yes, the consultations to the collapsed primary care centers, the demand for antigen tests in pharmacies and PCR analysis in laboratories, sick leave and the reorganization of family and business routines to adapt to them. Failure to resume the activity of the school in the conditions of maximum normality possible would only make the situation worse.
The expansion of the omicron, unless it surprises us again, has partly changed the rules of the game. Faced with a crazy number of cases but with milder consequences, it seems reasonable that some restrictions can be readjusted, as has happened with the quarantine periods. In this sense, the two-week extension of the measures taken by the Generalitat may serve as an alarm signal to avoid relaxation. But some of them, and specifically the curfewPerhaps it should be reconsidered now, taking into account, beyond the exemplary message, if they are justified in terms of effectiveness against contagion.
In the case of the school, the debate is on how to manage positive cases among students and among teachers. Given the characteristics that the pandemic has acquired in this sixth wave, it may be proportionate that the conditions under which a class is confined become more lax, or the practice of PCR tests at a time when the ability to perform them is limited. to the limit. But this exercise of calculated risk must also have all possible security conditions. Some complaints from teachers, such as the realization of screened before the start of the course, they would surely offer more reassurance. Also, that the percentage of teachers protected with a third dose rises beyond the current 35%. Or that families overcome the reluctance that is causing so far, only 26% of schoolchildren aged 5 to 11 have received the vaccine. And, above all, with clear and understandable application protocols for those who must apply them, without which the confusion and, from her, to mistrust.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com