Earlier free heat, today corona holidays. Many children will remember later the fact that her teaching was in the year 2020 due to a Virus for days or even weeks.

In the course of the Covid-19-pandemic, schools will remain in Germany temporarily closed dozens of it are already in the country.

Worldwide, tens of millions of children just miss their lessons. Experts are not in agreement that large-scale school closures for the containment of Sars-CoV-2 are useful.

A confirmed case is enough for closure

Currently In Germany, mostly As it means there is a confirmed case in an education, is temporarily closed.

So it has, for example, the Bavarian Ministry of health. Also, who returns from a high – risk area – for example, the North of Italy-back, is to visit according to the will of the authorities in Munich, the first 14-days, no school or daycare.

First data analyses show: other than the flu-children at Covid, are 19 likely to be no significant drivers for the spread of the Virus in the community.

For Sars-CoV-2, it is clear that children develop very rarely noticeable symptoms, it was just of the world health organization (WHO). It is assumed, therefore, that children catching the disease, especially in adult – adult but, conversely, hardly in children.

“School closures can be useful if you can’t ensure Hygiene measures,” says the Virologist Ulrike Protzer from the Technical University (TUM) and the Helmholtz Zentrum München.

“But you have to consider the enormous impact on the economy and especially on the health care system, if the young parents can then go to work, but your children need to take care of.”

Spread should be slowed down

With a view to measures such as quarantine, cancellation of large public events and school closures is generally not important to understand that this is aimed at the protection of the individual, because the Virus would be extremely dangerous. “But they are really meant to slow the spread,” says Prancer.

“If I have a Virus, the to 100 percent of susceptible persons is true, then the spreads very quickly,” explains the expert.

In the result, for example, the health system could be and the care of Patients at risk to be overloaded. “Even if you say you close a school, then that’s because they fear that the children are sick,” she says. “It’s about the further spread of the Virus to contain.”

The spokesman of the management Board of the German society for hospital hygiene (DGKH), Peter Walger, thinks that school closures are also not useful.

Alone the problems that would result from the necessary child-care, would not be in proportion to the Benefits, said the infectious diseases specialized medical specialist.

He also refers to the fact that parents would then have to remain at home – with consequences for their jobs and public life. “It’s not worth it to close schools.”

Children get just as easily as adults

So it’s not like the Bavarian state office for health and food safety (LGL): A closure have the potential to curb the epidemic, according to the Department.

There is evidence that children infected, apparently as easily as adults. In fact, researchers in a recently presented a small study to the result that children become infected, probably with similar frequency to adults – but only very rarely get sick.

Why children fight off a Sars-CoV-2 infection appear to have more assets, is as yet unclear.

“Open the question of whether children can transmit the Virus just as effectively to other people, like adults, is currently”, it is called from LGL. The extent to which children without symptoms of a transmission constituted a risk, could currently not be answered seriously, and also says DGKH speaker Walger.

The German teachers ‘ Association against corona holidays

Contagious or not, for more and more children in the coming days, probably, for the time being: out of school because of Sars-CoV-2. The German teachers ‘ Association (DL) estimates that nationwide, around 100 schools and kindergartens of the day or by the week point closures are affected.

“This is but an estimate, which may at any time be of the reality, the outdated,” says FDI President Heinz-Peter Meidinger.

The Association was opposed to a General, area-wide closing school closings – “so-called corona holidays” – as in Italy, he says.

Something like this could only be effective if it will lock accompanied by the closure of companies, work stations, and Restaurants, of an output and the closure of the public local and long – distance transport.

And even then, the question would remain Meidinger, according to: “What holiday is after two weeks the Corona, if the infections go back? It is then extended again and again, with enormous consequences for final exams and School careers?”

Therefore, his Position was: “at The present time, and as an isolated measure the DL from the General school considers closures a little.”

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

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