In response to the spread of highly infectious mutated coronavirus, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology revised the infection control manual for schools on the 28th, and the mutated virus may be more infectious to children than before. As a result, it is necessary to work on infection control with a greater sense of crisis than ever before.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has not obtained evidence that children are more susceptible to infection than adults or that they cause more severe symptoms at this stage in the revised infection control manual for schools. In addition, he said that the infectivity of the mutant virus to children may be stronger than that of the conventional virus, and it is necessary to continue to pay close attention to the effects.
On top of that, it is said that the conventional virus is rapidly being replaced by the mutant virus in various places, and it is necessary to tackle basic infection countermeasures such as avoidance of three sickness, wearing a mask, and washing hands with a sense of crisis more than before. is.
In addition, we are requesting reports from this month on the status of infection of mutant viruses to children and students.
In this revision, for so-called "voluntary school closure" children who are anxious about infection and take a rest voluntarily, in areas where the number of patients whose infection route is unknown is rapidly increasing, there are elderly people and families with underlying illnesses, etc. It is included that it is possible to support learning such as providing guidance by ICT and not to treat it as absent at the discretion of the principal.
In addition, regarding the temporary closure of schools all over the region, careful judgment is required from the viewpoint of guaranteeing learning and affecting the mind and body.
Chuichi Miki, Chief of the Health Education and Food Education Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said, "It is still important to take measures against infectious diseases such as 3 Cs as a measure against mutant viruses. It's been a long time, putting a burden on children, parents, and faculty and staff, but I want to work to reduce the infection of even one child. "
Infection status of children and students
According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the infection status of children and students from June last year to the 15th of this month, when schools reopened nationwide,
was 6183 for elementary school
students, 4072 for junior
high school students, 7046 for high
school students, and students from special schools. There are 269 people, for a
total of 17,570 people.
The number of infected people was the most reported from early January to mid-January, at nearly 1,900 per week, and has been on a downward trend since then, but has been on an increasing trend since late last month.
Looking at the infection route, "domestic infection" was the highest in all school types, with 78% in elementary school and 64% in junior high school, while in high school, "unknown infection route" was also high at 33%.
The trend is that there is no significant change.
The incidence of clusters of 5 or more is high in high school, and clusters of 10 or more are often related to high school club activities, and all have the same tendency as before.