Distance school must remain the last resort in the event of an epidemic resurgence, according to WHO Europe.
The organization insisted on Friday that PCR or antigen tests must be carried out in schools to avoid having to resort to distance education again.
"The summer months present a golden opportunity for governments to put in place a package of measures that will help bring down infection rates and avoid resorting to school closures," said the director of Europe. UN institution, Hans Kluge.
In a joint statement with Unesco and Unicef, he estimated that the closure of schools had "had a negative effect on education and the social and mental well-being of our children and young people".
School closures, a last resort
According to the new recommendations published on Friday, the tests "should be carried out as a priority on children with symptoms" when they belong to a group at risk. But tests "should also be considered" in cases of infection for asymptomatic contact cases. However, testing is not recommended when no case has been detected in the school, the WHO said.
"We cannot allow the pandemic to deprive children of their education and development," stressed Hans Kluge, who has repeatedly called on governments to fight against the dropout of some, linked to distance education.
For UN institutions, school closures should only be considered as a last resort, only if there is "an explosion of cases or the transmission in the community cannot be controlled by any other measure".
Delta variant dominant in Europe by August, according to WHO
The European branch of the WHO warned Thursday that the cases of Covid-19 had started to increase again in Europe after ten consecutive weeks of decline, against a background of the rise of the more contagious Delta variant.
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"There will be a new wave in the European region, unless we remain disciplined," said Hans Kluge, according to which WHO Europe expects the so-called Delta variant, initially detected in India, to become "dominant" by August. .
