Several cases of Covid-19 have been reported at the Jules-Ferry college in Eaubonne (Val-d'Oise), including two positive for the South African variant, leading to the closure of the establishment on Monday.
In Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), it is the Jeanne-d'Arc school group that has been affected by four cases of variants, including at least two South Africans.
All the first class of the high school were closed.
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Covid-19: class closures, masks ... What are the new health rules at school?
This is the consequence of a further tightening of health rules which should lead to an increase in class and school closures in the coming weeks.
An
"urgent note"
that the General Directorate of Health sent Sunday evening to health professionals provides for specific reinforcement for the so-called "South African" and "Brazilian" variants, whose circulation is in the minority but which presents risks concerning the immune protection and vaccine efficacy.
Additional precautions are taken for the National Education.
After investigation by the regional health agency, the closure of the class is now
"automatically pronounced"
, if a child or a teacher is contaminated by one of the two variants or if the child is
"contact case"
of a parent or of a sibling contaminated with one of these same variants.
All students and teachers must then be tested.
Last week, measures had already been strengthened.
The positive screening of a single kindergarten student for Covid-19 is now enough to cause the closure of his class for seven days.
A special precaution taken due to the fact that these young children do not wear the mask.
According to figures released on Friday, some 934 classes out of 528,400 were closed, double the previous week
In primary and secondary schools, where everyone wears a mask, if a case of the English variant, the most common, is confirmed among teachers or students, the class concerned must close.
Previously, we had to wait for three cases to be identified.
These rules have led to an increase in closures even if they remain extremely limited.
According to figures released on Friday, some 934 classes out of 528,400 were closed, double the previous week.
While the February holidays started this weekend in zone A (Bordeaux, Lyon, Grenoble, Poitiers, etc.), zones B and C are still in class.
Following in the footsteps of several medical personalities, the majority union of national education doctors (SNMSU-Unsa), a profession which has 800 people, demanded Monday the closure of all schools for four weeks.
A measure which would aim to
"slow down the circulation of the virus in schools in order to try to avoid a closure which may be much longer in the context of confinement"
.
Read also:
Covid-19: school doctors demand the closure of schools for four weeks
Conversely, at the end of January, members of French pediatric societies stressed that they were opposed to any closure of schools in the event of a third confinement, highlighting the psychosocial risks they have already observed: increase in mistreatment, depression, and suicide attempts in children and adolescents.
They also point out that children under 11 not only present much less serious forms, but are also less contaminated and
“much less contaminating”
than the rest of the population.
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