• Education This will be the 'back to school' in Madrid: 100% presence at all levels and desks one meter away

  • Classes The Government and the Autonomous Communities agree to return to the ratios from before the Covid: 25 students per classroom in Primary, 30 in ESO and 35 in Baccalaureate

The

return to the cole

in September safe is a priority. The World Health Organization (WHO), Unicef ​​and national governments seek to organize the return to classes in person as well as possible. However, the

Delta variant

, more contagious than the previous ones, and the fact that there are no

vaccines for the little ones

, raises many doubts about how a safe return to the classroom will be possible.

The solution exists and involves carrying out a series of

measures that, taken together, can guarantee this security

.

Among them:

CO2 meters

, ventilation,

microphones for teachers

or

periodic examinations

of students and teaching staff

.

To these guidelines should be added the use of masks and social distancing, useful but only to mitigate the spread of the virus over short distances.

Microphones for teachers

The main measures are to

reduce the spread of

Sars-CoV-2

and

promote ventilation

.

For the first case, it is proven that simply breathing when speaking aloud or singing multiplies the aerosol particles that we expel by up to 1,000.

The Delta variant, in addition, is 60% more contagious than the Alpha, with fewer particles being necessary for contagion to occur.

Therefore, teachers have been suggested to use a microphone to keep their voices high without having to raise their voices.

CO2 meters

More complex is the point of ventilation. Very few school buildings are equipped with mechanical ventilation that, taking into account engineering (room size, number of people present, activity carried out), can reduce the risk in the classroom with adequate air renewal. A great help in achieving this can come

from carbon dioxide detectors

that constantly monitor

air quality.

In recent days, Belgium has imposed CO2 meters in public places so that the air quality and safety level are always visible, focusing on ventilation.

CO2 sensors work like a traffic light, with green, yellow and red lights depending on the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air.

In this sense, the teacher could intervene by opening the windows when necessary.

Air purifiers

Along the same lines, air purifiers would avoid having to open windows in winter with the consequent discomfort that this generates in addition to energy expenditure.

To reduce the opening of windows, there would be air purifiers with HEPA filters, which replace natural ventilation.

Regular examinations at school

On the other hand, the

European Center for Disease Prevention and Control

(ECDC) has recommended that

periodic

examinations be carried out

to students, teachers

and the rest of the personnel of educational centers.

"In September, tests can be carried out in environments where the vaccination rate is low, such as schools," suggests virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco.

"With the less invasive saliva tests, it will be easier to monitor the little ones, who will be the last to be vaccinated."

A Canadian study published in PLOS Computational Biology and conducted when there were no vaccines yet concluded, among other things, that

the best way to prevent outbreaks at school is to regularly test anyone

attending an educational institution. Instead, it appears that

quarantining the entire class when a positive case is identified is a poorly-functioning strategy.

, because it's late.

The researchers used a mathematical model to simulate how to prevent flare-ups.

"We found that taking action after a student has developed symptoms and tested positive is too slow a strategy. Testing symptom-free students works quite well in our model and could also be applied in workplaces or shared housing," said Paul. Tupper, one of the study authors.

Vaccines

Of course, vaccines are part of the strategy to limit infections.

However, currently only those over 12 years of age can be vaccinated and there are a large number of students who do not reach this age.

When will the vaccines arrive for the little ones?

Pfizer

has announced that it will seek authorization for the emergency use of its vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11 next fall.

For its part,

Moderna

has indicated that the results of its clinical experiments with children will be available within a year.

Just a month ago, the company applied for US approval of its vaccine for people between the ages of 12 and 17.


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Know more

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  • Covid 19

  • Science and Health

  • Education

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