While several thousand classes are closed in France due to a Covid-19 infection, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer announced, this Thursday at noon, a relaxation of the closure rules related to contamination in primary education .
Currently, a class is automatically closed as soon as a student is found to be positive for Covid-19.
From now on, the classes with a positive case will remain open, and screenings will be systematically carried out.
This system has already been tested in ten French departments in recent weeks, and "makes it possible to maintain the same level of protection for students", defends Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Positive students will have to remain isolated.
Screenings can be carried out by the legal guardians of the children.
8,500 closed classes
8,500 classes in primary schools are currently closed in France, according to the Minister of National Education.
180,000 families are affected by class closures, with 3,200 students declared positive.
Read also Covid-19 in Paris: the fifth wave explodes class closures
The number of cases has been increasing very rapidly in France for several days, reaching 32,591 new contaminations on Wednesday, the highest since April 24, and confirming the arrival of a fifth wave.
This outbreak of contamination is not currently accompanied by a surge in hospitalizations, despite an increase in recent days.
The government blames this "decorrelation" for a high vaccination rate compared to other European countries.
