In an open letter addressed to the Minister of Health published on Saturday, December 25 in
Le Journal du Dimanche
(JDD), 51 health personnel alerted Olivier Véran of the consequences of the circulation of Covid-19 on the health of the youngest and demanded measures to slow down the epidemic in schools.
Read alsoCovid-19 at school: daily puzzle for principals and parents
The signatories urge the Minister of Health to take full responsibility for “
health management in schools.
"Force of proposal, they call for the postponement of the start of the January 3 school year, which they consider"
at high risk given its proximity to the New Year's festivities
. " A measure that would be supplemented by “
recourse to distance education until the return to thresholds of health indicators defined publicly.
"
In addition, they call for "
the sensitization of educational bodies on aerosol transmission and the practices to be adopted to limit the risk of airborne contamination of the virus
"
: CO2 sensors, aeration, ventilation, etc.
"Several other proposals for measures followed, aimed in particular at the development of a new health protocol in schools, better communication and awareness of families on the proven risks of Covid-19 for children and a"
clear fight against Ministry of Health against disinformation on the epidemic situation among children and against the denigration of the vaccination campaign.
"
SEE ALSO -
Should we postpone the start of the school year in the face of the surge in Covid-19 cases?
Odile Launay's response
"
An unprecedented wave in the coming weeks
"
This fifty or so caregivers predicted “
an unprecedented wave in the coming weeks of care for children with pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS), as well as sequelae linked to the development, in some cases, of a lasting form of the disease ("Long pediatric Covid").
"
According to them,
"
more than 300,000 children and adolescents have been confirmed positive for Covid-19
"since early November
.
.
Read alsoCovid-19: "We must put in place a curfew before Christmas Eve", pleads epidemiologist William Dab
To support their remarks, they are based on a study by the team led by the Italian researcher Vittoria Colizza which estimates that “
the virus circulates more in schools, primary and secondary schools than in the community at the same period, showing that contacts within schools increase the potential for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in relation to the community.
Moreover, in many departments, the epidemic recovery clearly started in the fall with clusters in schools
”.
And recall that “
one of the first clusters of the Omicron variant was also detected in schools.
"
Weak resources and contradictory words
In their forum, these caregivers deplore "
the weak resources deployed so far by the Ministry of National Education to curb the epidemic in schools, whether to fight against the airborne risk of contamination, as to organize campaigns effective testing.
"They also regret the"
comments of certain experts, who continue to minimize the impact of Covid-19 on children and question the interest of vaccination for children aged 5 to 11, at the same time when the campaign vaccination program will be launched in France and requires a major effort to obtain parental support.
"
