In addition, the debate regarding which measures make sense in schools must now be conducted differently than a year ago: schools used to be treated differently than other areas of society, among other things, because this is often how infections get into households and thus into people with a higher risk of severe courses. In the meantime, however, this risk can be reduced in a different way (vaccinations, therapies). “If you focus primarily on protecting the vulnerable in the current phase of the pandemic, it is only consistent that you have normal operations at school.”
Of course, it makes sense to stay at home if you are infected, “as you would do with any other infectious disease,” emphasizes Klimek. “That applies at school as well as everywhere else.” The guidelines of the Ministry of Education, on the other hand, stipulate that asymptomatic infected students and teachers with FFP2 masks are allowed to take part in lessons. If the epidemiological situation changes, from Klimek’s point of view, the first option would be to sharpen the wearing of masks.
“Of course, it still makes sense to control infectious diseases at school,” emphasizes Klimek. He advocates taking Covid-19 as an opportunity to better equip schools in general once morest infectious diseases. An important lever is ventilation, although in most cases relatively low-tech solutions can be used.
