Lockdown end: air filters are largely ignored in schools

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The allegations weigh heavily.

“Hamburg lets its children down,” says Anna-Maria Kuricová.

She is the city chairwoman of the “Initiative Familien” association, which wants to draw attention to the needs of children and young people in the corona pandemic.

The reason for their anger: In the Hanseatic city, schools should open later than in other federal states - namely in the middle of the coming month.

"With the continuation of the school closings in Hamburg, the Senate is ignoring the plight of the children," complains Kuricová.

Schools across Germany have been closed for months - and, as in Hamburg, will in some cases remain until mid-March.

So there would be plenty of time to prepare for a reboot and ensure infection control.

But this is apparently hardly used.

Berlin as a positive example

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This is shown by a survey by WELT AM SONNTAG in the ten most populous German cities: The question was asked about the use of mobile air purification devices with which coronaviruses can be filtered out of the air.

The responses from the cities show that only slightly more than 1,300 such devices have been purchased so far - for over 2,500 schools in these cities.

In the eyes of parents and teachers that is far too little.

Many schools still have to get by without extra air purifiers.

"Of course, we would have liked the municipalities, as school authorities, to approach the issue of air filter systems more courageously and make better use of the funds available," says Marlis Tepe, chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW).

The air filters are an additional measure to improve infection protection, albeit not the central instrument.

But that applies especially to winter, when regular ventilation is difficult.

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But there is one thing that annoys the unionist: that these considerations could have taken place much earlier.

“First of all, there should have been a review of the classrooms last summer with a view to ensuring adequate ventilation options,” says Tepe.

The next step would have been the use of air filters, especially in rooms where regular ventilation is not possible.

At the same time, the GEW also points out that the systems are not the central solution to the school problem.

One of the most important measures was primarily a test strategy suitable for everyday use.

In addition, the AHA rules and ventilation must be complied with.

A positive example among the big cities is Berlin.

The Senate has launched a new € 70 million support package for schools and day-care centers, which, in addition to self-tests and learning aids, as well as FFP2 masks for teaching staff, will also be used to procure additional mobile air cleaning devices for schools.

In addition to the previous 1200 devices, 2800 units are to be purchased by Easter.

Another 3,500 are planned for the summer.

Lengthy approval process

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However, mobile air filters are not the only technical way to clean the air.

Some schools already have ventilation systems that can be retrofitted with filters - the authorities in Dortmund, Stuttgart and Cologne point this out.

Dortmund plans to purchase mobile air purification devices for only 27 of a total of 154 municipal schools.

Cologne initially ordered 84 mobile air filters for rooms that cannot be ventilated with sufficient shock ventilation or built-in ventilation systems.

Further models are to be tested with the health department and the Technical University of Aachen.

Cities like Frankfurt or Hamburg are not introducing mobile air filters across the board and in some cases make the acquisition of such devices more difficult due to a licensing procedure, others even more or less completely reject the use of mobile air filter systems - including Essen, Leipzig or Munich.

Wear masks, keep your distance and ventilate - with this simple rule of three, Germany's students should continue to be protected from corona infections in classrooms.

One would think that the authorities would have to grab every straw that came up.

The impact of the school closings is drastic.

According to a study by the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, almost every third child in Germany now shows psychological problems.

Nevertheless, not everything is apparently being tried to facilitate the opening of schools.

Ventilation is not always possible in every classroom or it is incorrectly ventilated.

"The windows have to be opened briefly for three minutes while students and teachers are in the room," says Martin Exner, long-time director of the Bonn Institute for Hygiene and Public Health.

The mobile air filters are not a panacea in the fight against the virus, says Exner.

"But they can be a support in addition to the other hygiene measures, especially when there is not enough ventilation."

It's not the money

A laboratory test has shown that air purification devices can significantly reduce test viruses using special Hepa filters.

However, there are still no definitive studies on the extent to which mobile devices reduce the risk of infection in classrooms.

And the Federal Environment Agency points out that an exchange of air is only possible through ventilation.

The devices could therefore only be a supplement.

But although every day counts in the pandemic, the motto in Germany is: thoroughness before speed.

This is particularly evident in Stuttgart.

Together with the University of Stuttgart, the municipal school administration office is currently investigating the effectiveness of the filters in a pilot project at nine Stuttgart schools.

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A purchase decision should only be made when the results are available.

The people of Munich would at least follow developments in scientific assessments carefully.

Düsseldorf is taking a different approach: the city is currently equipping 87 urban primary schools with a ceiling air purification system, as it is now clear that the aerosols are initially distributed horizontally and then in an ascending manner in the room.

Mobile air filter devices, on the other hand, usually suck in the air close to the ground - this is the assessment in the state capital.

In any case, money seems to be there.

Some countries have created special funding, as a survey by WELT AM SONNTAG shows among the ministries responsible for education.

The Bavarian Ministry of Culture, for example, has been supporting the schools with a total of 37 million euros since October in order to upgrade their technology.

In addition to CO2 sensors, this also includes mobile air purification devices with a filter function, which school authorities can procure for those rooms in which ventilation is otherwise hardly possible.

Many countries still provide money

By the end of December, in the first round, almost two thirds of the municipal and private schools had submitted an application for funding, explains a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture.

But only 456 school authorities from 6000 Bavarian schools plan to use the funds to procure mobile air filter systems for around 4700 rooms.

There's still money left.

In a round that has been running since the beginning of the year, Bavarian schools can therefore obtain subsidies for the procurement of mobile air filter systems for all classrooms.

In Hesse, too, 75 million euros are available to educational institutions “to improve hygiene measures”.

In Baden-Württemberg there are several pots that schools could use to procure mobile or permanently installed ventilation systems.

And schools in Hamburg receive 400 euros per class to equip classrooms themselves.

The money was hardly used.

If the pupils do not return to the classes before the Easter break, complains Kuricová of the “Family Initiative”, it will have been three months without school.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: Welt am Sonntag