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Empty classroom in last lockdown (archive)
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Michael Weber / imago images
Has politics hesitated too long in the fight against Corona, so that in the end - like last winter - you have little choice but to close the schools?
Many parents are worried about this these days.
Now doctors are also urgently warning against such a scenario. In view of the tightened measures to contain the fourth corona wave, pediatricians are against renewed school closings. "I urgently advocate maintaining school operations throughout the fourth wave," said the President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), Jörg Dötsch, of the newspaper "Rheinische Post".
He referred to studies that show that children and adolescents are not infected in schools, but mainly in the family environment.
On the contrary, the schools help to control infections in children - especially regular testing, wearing masks and hygiene measures are crucial.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recently reported the incidence among schoolchildren nationwide at a value of well over 600.
Only as a last resort
Dötsch welcomed the clear rejection of the traffic light parties to renewed school closings.
It is to be hoped that they will still remember it if the situation worsens and further measures are necessary.
The professional association of paediatricians (BVKJ) also warned of renewed severe restrictions for children and adolescents.
"These must never be done before all other measures to protect against infection have been exhausted, including a general vaccination requirement for adults," said BVKJ federal spokesman Jakob Maske of the "Rheinische Post".
The pediatrician pointed to the serious consequences of the lockdown measures for children and adolescents.
An immense increase in psychiatric illnesses, obesity, gambling addiction, learning backlogs and the widening of the social gap can be observed.
Schools may therefore only be closed as the "very last resort to deal with the pandemic".
beb / dpa
