Corona: 50,000 students in quarantine nationwide

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Education Minister Anja Karliczek: "This number shows that we are still in the middle of the pandemic"

Photo: Marijan Murat / picture alliance / dpa

After the start of the new school year, around 50,000 students are currently in quarantine nationwide, reports the "Bild" newspaper and cites a survey with the responsible ministries of the federal states.

"This number shows that we are still in the middle of the pandemic and that this is already having an impact on school operations," said Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) of the "Bild" newspaper.

A similar inquiry from the editorial network Germany (RND) had produced comparable figures.

However, suspected corona cases are not uniformly recorded in all federal states.

It is also not always clear how many of the quarantined students were actually infected.

If there is a suspected case, entire schools or class groups often have to be quarantined as a precaution.

Evidence of infection within schools

According to the RND, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia are particularly affected.

In Bavaria, around 9,000 students were recently under quarantine, 343 of them tested positive for the virus.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, 7,000 students were in quarantine at the beginning of the week.

The President of the German Teachers Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, warned of a further increase.

"According to the German Teachers' Association, the current high number of 50,000 students will more than double in the next three months, and probably even multiply," he told "Bild".

As a result, it is "likely to become more and more difficult to control and contain outbreaks of infection," said Meidinger.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in which an infection within the school could be considered likely is increasing.

In a Hamburg school, for example, almost 30 students and teachers tested positive for the corona virus at the beginning of September.

For the first time in this case, it can be assumed that those affected could also have been infected within the school, said Education Senator Ties Rabe (SPD) at the time.

In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the education ministers of the federal states have agreed on a loose hygiene concept.

Among other things, the framework plan provides for

for school events outside of the actual lessons

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In addition, the school buildings should be

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koe / dpa / AFP