BACK to school: yes, no, how, when? “The decision to completely or partially close or reopen schools – writes WHO – must be dictated by an approach based on a risk assessment, which aims to maximize educational and health benefits, and helps to prevent new outbreaks of infections “. However, assessing the risk is not easy: the evidence gathered so far, in fact, does not all point in the same direction. But experts say it is possible to return to school safely.
School, Crepet’s alarm: “Let’s bring the kids back to class at all costs, otherwise the damage will be enormous”
by Valeria Pini
There are three pillars on which the reopenings rest: transport, aeration, tracking. He explains it to us Walter Ricciardi, Professor of General and Applied Hygiene at the Catholic University and scientific advisor to the Ministry of Health: “Going back to school in the presence is safe, as long as all the appropriate prevention strategies are rigorously applied”. Which? “We need to set up a sort of” safety chain “that covers all the steps necessary to attend school in person: the journey from home to school and vice versa, the stay in the classrooms, the management of any positives”.
Transports
Let’s start with transport: a study just published on Journal of School Health, conducted on 1154 students of a US school revealed that none of the 39 positive cases detected was linked to an infection that occurred on the 15 school buses that served them. The vehicles operated at reduced capacity, adopted simple ventilation techniques and the students on board had to wear masks, which, again, confirms the effectiveness of the prevention measures. “By combining these measures with the mandatory display of the green pass on public transport – comments Ricciardi – it is possible to almost completely reduce the risk of contagion on the way home-school and vice versa”.
Covid, Ichino: “For safe schools, compulsory vaccination is required”
by Sandro Iannaccone
The reaction
And once you get to the classroom? “The fundamental aspect, which has become even more so with the arrival of the Delta variant, which can also be transmitted via aerosols – continues the expert – is the correct management of ventilation and spaces. There are, for example, simple and cheap tools that, by monitoring the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, remind you to open the windows: you have to use them, and periodically sanitize and ventilate the school spaces. In addition to the other measures we know well: distance, masks, hand hygiene “.
Tracking
Another important point concerns the containment of any infections: each school must have protocols and safeguards to promptly intervene in the event of a positive outcome and proceed with contact tracking.
.