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Signs at the entrance of the Heinrich Hertz School in Hamburg: Due to 36 corona infections, almost 400 students and half of the staff were in quarantine
Photo: HANNO BODE / imago images / Hanno Bode
For the virologist Christian Drosten, the cases did not come as a surprise.
When reports about two larger corona outbreaks in schools in Hamburg and Rostock were reported last week, he commented twice on Twitter with the words "as expected".
In the following days, other schools in Gießen and Saarlouis hit the headlines because several students or teachers were infected here as well.
That came unexpectedly for the individual schools.
"The fact that our school had to close on September 11th took me as by surprise as it sure did you", wrote the head of the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in the Saarlouis district, where 18 people were infected.
The head of the Heinrich Hertz School in Hamburg, where almost 400 students and half of the staff had to be quarantined because of 36 cases, said that she was shocked at first to find out about the infection of a teacher.
But does that mean, conversely, that the schools were not prepared?
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The federal states at least clearly stipulate what to do in the event of both a suspected case and a positive test result: namely, report.
"I immediately wrote to the health department, my school supervisory authority and the so-called corona mailbox of the school authority," says Susanne Hilbig-Rehder from Hamburg.
"The health department then asked exactly the question that we in the management team had already prepared for in parallel: Who was in contact with whom and when?"
Communication is the crux of the matter
In this exceptional situation, the school administrators have a lot to do with the local health authorities, reports Hilbig-Rehder: tracing, test organization and finally rescheduling of lessons if all or parts of the school community are sent to quarantine and thus to distance learning.
One of the first sticking points is communication.
That went well at her school, says Anke Treuner-Lange, chairwoman of the school parents' council at the Liebigschule in Gießen, Hesse, where some classes were temporarily closed due to 15 confirmed cases.
But she can only advise every school to "update your e-mail and telephone lists."
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Hundertwasser Comprehensive School in Rostock: After it became clear that there were infections in all cohorts, the whole school closed.
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
Rostock's school senator Steffen Bockhahn also told SPIEGEL that the city had learned from the first smaller Corona case immediately after the summer holidays and asked the schools to update their contact details.
This had proven itself in the outbreak at Hundertwasser Comprehensive School, when 850 people affected had to be informed every day.
The health department had ultimately ordered quarantine at home for all students and teachers because of 18 confirmed corona cases at the school.
The decision is made by the health department
At first glance, the extent of an outbreak for the schools is difficult to predict.
Depending on whether there are only a few cases or more and more infections are added, the specifications change constantly.
In Rostock, for example, only individual classes were initially supposed to stay at home, but after it became clear that there were infections in all cohorts, the whole school closed.
In Hamburg, on the other hand, school operations continued for most classes despite the high number of infected people.
The decision rests with the local health department; there are no nationwide uniform guidelines as to which measure is taken in which situation.
This sometimes causes incomprehension among those affected, reports Anne Bunte, head of the health department in the Gütersloh district.
According to the RKI, the district of Gütersloh was in seventh place in the Germany-wide negative ranking of most corona cases on Friday;
through two parties, new chains of infection have now appeared in schools.
"However you do it: We do too much for some, too little for others."
If you send a class to quarantine, the question arises, why not the whole year;
If you send a year to quarantine, those affected asked why not just one class.
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Closures on suspicion are particularly controversial.
In Rostock, for example, in connection with the school breakout, a daycare group was closed for a short time - although there was still no test result.
School Senator Bockhahn defends the procedure that each case must ultimately be assessed individually.
However, he would like more test and laboratory capacities in acute outbreak situations so that there is less need to act on suspicion.
School attendance despite Corona
On the other hand, there are parents who would prefer to leave their children at home immediately in the event of corona outbreaks in other grade levels.
But they usually have no choice.
"Compulsory schooling is not suspended," says the headmistress Hilbig-Rehder from Hamburg.
In many federal states, however, there is the possibility of submitting a hardship application, for example if the child has a previous illness.
In Baden-Württemberg, parents can even decide, without a certificate, that the children should be taught at home.
However, compulsory schooling continues to apply - albeit at a distance.
From the quarantine, the headmaster from Rostock not only had to communicate with the health department and inform the pupils and parents, but also organize distance lessons, reports Rostock's school senator Bockhahn.
In many places, schools are still faced with the familiar problems: a lack of media skills, infrastructure or technical equipment.
The promised loaner devices for schoolchildren have not yet arrived at the schools in Rostock and Gießen, for example.
The schools are promised a lot in the expansion of the digital infrastructure, but little has happened, says parents' council Treuner-Lange from Gießen.
"Our teachers sometimes stand in the stairwell with their cell phones, stop where they manage to establish a hot-spot connection with their private end devices, which I find sad."
In Hamburg and Giessen, due to the lack of local teachers, students also had to be taught from a distance, even though they were not in quarantine at all.
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In the event of corona outbreaks, a mask is required in class
If lessons continue despite infections in other classes, a mask is required in lessons - the health department also decides on this.
At her grammar school in Giessen, the school community supported this necessary measure, but it does not make everyday school life any easier, says Anke Treuner-Lange.
She knew, for example, from the stories told by students and teachers that this made communication more difficult in class and that a number of students complained of headaches and tiredness.
What is remarkable, however, is how much more relaxed the health department is when assessing a new infection if the students wore a mask in class, says Treuner-Lange.
This was the case in the 6th grade.
"Here the health department did not order that the whole class had to stay at home. However, out of caution, the school decided to teach the class from a distance for a few days. That was also well received by the parents," says the Chair of the school parents' council.
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In order to be able to classify the extent of the previous Covid-19 outbreaks in schools, it is helpful to see these numbers in relation to each other.
During the incident at the Heinrich Hertz School, only 14 of the total of around 9,500 classes in all other schools in Hamburg were in preventive quarantine, said school senator Ties Rabe, i.e. just 0.15 percent.
However, this is only ever a snapshot.
The school authorities announced on Thursday that there were a total of 40 classes at home - that's 0.42 percent.
For comparison: In Bavaria, around 8,800 students were recently in quarantine, around 0.5 percent of all students.
Baden-Württemberg reported 225 affected classes on Friday, 0.3 percent.
But the development is very different from region to region, in Stuttgart the number of schools affected has recently increased rapidly in parallel to the infection rate in the state capital.
The four schools that were particularly badly affected and described here are now returning to regular operations.
In Hamburg and Giessen, all students are being taught on site again, in the other two cities the classes should be back in the school building on Monday.
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