The health protocol provided by National Education for schools "does not protect staff, students and their families," said a group of doctors on Saturday, calling for tougher precautions three days before the start of the school year.
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"School is not ready"
"Beyond the real health risk, there is also that of closing classes by the dozen, with the effect of amplifying the inequalities in knowledge and learning and of durably disrupting our economy and our society", warns their forum , published on the Parisien website .
"The school is not ready. (...) Given the protocol in force, nothing seems to prevent schools from becoming clusters" (infectious outbreaks), alert the signatories, including infectious disease specialist Karine Lacombe, the president of the union of liberal doctors UFMLS Jérôme Marty and the creators of the Stop-Postillons collective, which has been advocating for months to strengthen the role of the mask in the fight against the coronavirus.
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Wearing a mask recommended for students over 6 years old
They propose "to recommend the wearing of the mask in a closed place for all the pupils of more than 6 years", considering that "the children of less than 11 years are as contaminants as the teenagers or the adults".
However, there is no consensus on this issue. "When they show symptoms, children shed the same amount of virus as adults and are as contaminating as them" but "it is not known to what extent asymptomatic children can infect other people", summarizes the European Center disease prevention and control (ECDC).
Stricter rules on the ventilation of premises
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer announced Wednesday that all adults should wear a mask at school, including kindergarten teachers, while children will be masked from grade 6. The rest of the health protocol, drawn up in July, notably eases the distancing rules that prevailed in May and June to allow the reception of all students. The group of doctors, already at the origin of a forum in mid-August for the compulsory mask in all closed collective places, also calls for stricter rules on the ventilation of the premises and "dedicated procedures in areas of strong viral circulation "to avoid having to close entire schools if a case is detected.
He suggests to lighten the classes "by alternating face-to-face and distance learning", to limit "contact between classes" and to organize a "staggering of recess and canteen". "If there were to be hybrid measures" (distance education combined with physical education) or "containment, we stand ready," said Jean-Michel Blanquer on Wednesday. But for this return, "we are not there," he said.