China News Service, Paris, September 16 (Reporter Li Yang) UNESCO, the World Health Organization and UNICEF jointly organized an online press conference on the evening of the 15th local time to discuss how to ensure the continuity of education during the new crown epidemic. At the same time, they made recommendations for health and safety work, and discussed the school safety guidelines just released during the new crown epidemic.
At the press conference, UNESCO Director-General Azoulay stated that supporting the safe reopening of schools is a priority for all of us, especially supporting the education opportunities of the most disadvantaged.
Relevant experts recognized the importance of schools, reviewed the latest facts, and formulated guidelines for school safety during the new crown epidemic based on the latest facts, while taking into account the issues of fairness, resource investment and feasibility.
The safety guide puts forward the general principles of school prevention and control of the epidemic: to ensure the safety of children, to ensure the continuity of appropriate education and social learning and development; to enable children, teachers and other school staff to contract the new crown virus in the school and school-related environments Minimize risks; prevent schools from spreading the virus in the community; ensure school epidemic prevention measures and support the implementation of broader related measures in the community.
The safety guidelines stated that based on available data, the direct impact of the new crown virus on children's health seems to be limited, and the number of child deaths is very small; and school closures have obvious negative effects on children's health, education and development, family income and the overall economy.
Governments should consider investing in comprehensive, multi-level measures to give priority to the continuity of education, while preventing the spread of the virus in the education environment.
The guidelines also provide information on how to implement risk-based epidemic prevention methods based on the severity of the new crown epidemic and the intensity of the spread of the virus, including how schools should regulate social distancing based on the age of students, and how to regulate the use of masks.
In addition, the joint publication "Reflections on School-related Public Health Measures in the Context of the New Coronary Epidemic" put forward detailed recommendations to guide the management of educational institutions for children under the age of 18.
It is understood that the "Educational Institutions and New Coronary Epidemic Technical Expert Advisory Group" established in June this year by UNESCO, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund participated in the formulation of the recommendations.
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