A carbon dioxide detector in each classroom that warns if the air is saturated and therefore if Covid can enter the lungs of teachers and children. A solution against the possible spread of the virus in schools that are about to open. In this regard, Walter Ricciardi, scientific director of Ics Maugeri, scientific advisor to the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, professor of Hygiene at the Catholic University of Rome, also a member of the scientific committee of Santé Publique France, the transalpine ISS, warns: “With the start of the new school year in the presence, the risk of an increase in Covid cases is real. Just look at what happened in Scotland “.
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Increase in infections in the classroom
The fact that Covid cases can increase with the return, from 1 September next, of students and staff to the desks, is not an eventuality but a certainty. This is the starting point of Professor Ricciardi’s position. Which takes up the Scotland case. “This experience, which dates back to the last two weeks, is certainly enlightening – he explains -. Because Scotland, a wise and prudent country, despite the attentions in managing the Covid problem, has had to deal with a rise in cases related to the school. . Unfortunately it is normal in the presence of a Delta variant that has changed the cards on the table, with children becoming the main vehicles of infection. This is why we need to multiply our attention “.
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The fact that under the age of 12 you cannot get vaccinated only complicates things. “Once in class, children and teenagers get infected – insists Ricciardi -. And returning home they do the same with their families”. Because, in fact, the Delta variant, with its speed, has made everything more complicated. “The first months of the pandemic were characterized by the Wuhan strain, which produced fewer positives for the virus – summarizes the scientific director of Maugeri -. Then there was the Beta variant and finally the Delta (formerly English), very contagious all over the world, so much so as to determine a 30% increase in cases in Europe “.
“The pandemic is likely to last for years”
Ricciardi continues: “On this pandemic we must say loud and clear that, if certain decisions are not made, it will last for years. There is no country in the world that has completely followed the directions of science. So much so that no one has solved the problem. problem”. Then he raises the alarm: “To reach 100 million cases, Covid took approximately 18 months. To reach 200 million cases it took 6, because with the Delta variant the contagiousness has exploded. And if we do not prepare for it. to prevent, vaccinate, to maintain all cautions, we will reach 400 million cases in the next 3 months. This means that we must have the courage to affirm uncomfortable truths, even if everyone would like to say: let’s relax, let’s go back to normal “.
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“Compulsory vaccine”
And here we return to the questions on how to safely face the new school year. “What to do? First of all, it is necessary to introduce the obligation of vaccination, under penalty of suspension, for the staff. And you must vaccinate as much as possible: up to 100% – explains Ricciardi -. Then you have to observe hygiene in the environments and on transport . All this should serve to contain the infections “. On the green pass for teachers, janitors and administrative staff, the professor insists: “It is a tool to persuade vaccination and must be implemented as much as possible, even in schools. Because the concentration of people indoors will inevitably lead to an increase in Covid infections. . These places should only be accessible to the immune. ”
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Air controls and detectors
Who should check if the staff have a valid green pass or not? “The heads of the schools are the principals, so it would be up to them – replies Ricciardi -. I still believe the initiative of the Minister of Mobility Enrico Giovannini to reintroduce the controllers on public transport to enforce the anti-Covid rules”. But it is also on the technical measures that the game is played. According to Ricciardi, in every classroom there should be “a carbon dioxide detector, able to make us understand when the air is saturated”. Because, concludes the professor, “saturation corresponds to a danger since the Covid virus is also transmitted by aerosol”. But, to date, few schools are equipped with mechanical ventilation systems that can reduce the risk in the classroom with adequate air exchange. A big help can come from carbon dioxide detectors that constantly monitor air quality (measured in ppm, parts per million). The carbon dioxide sensors work like traffic lights: green, yellow and red light based on the concentration of CO2 in the air with values set ad hoc for each environment. In this way, the teacher can intervene by opening the windows when the red color is triggered until they return to acceptable values.
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The other weapons available are the HEPA filter air purifiers (High Efficienty Particulate Air filter) which replace natural ventilation and periodic screening of students and school staff, as also suggested by the European authorities.
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