While the rise in hospitalizations raises fears of a postponement of the return to class, pediatricians urge the government to bring students back to school as planned on January 17.
“Currently, the measures taken to control the spread of the virus appear to be more harmful to children than the virus itself,” says pediatrician Véronie Charest in an open letter which has received the support of at least 185 doctors through the province.
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The negative impacts of homeschooling have been well demonstrated: learning delays, dropping out of school, mental health problems and screen addiction, we can read.
“Do we want to continue putting all of our energies on COVID, in large part to prevent unvaccinated adults from catching it, knowing full well that the measures to make it happen are sacrificing a full generation of children and adolescents who are currently suffering? “Asks Dr. Charest.
The pediatrician also recalls that children “are little or not sick” from COVID-19.
“They will not put pressure on the health system,” she says, since the number of children hospitalized since December in connection with the Omicron variant is “negligible”.
Closing schools would be an “ineffective” measure to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 since cases in schools “represent the trend of transmission in the community,” adds the pediatrician.
In the ranks of parents, some also fear a postponement of the return to class, since virtual education simply does not work for some students.
“It is infeasible”, impatiently Kileka Coulibaly, who represents the parents of students with disabilities or with adjustment or learning difficulties at the Center de service scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM).
“The virtual school, for these children, it is just not possible. ”
Liberal education spokesperson Marwah Rizqy also asked, in an open letter, for a safe return to class on Monday.
The Legault government should take stock of the return to class today, during a press briefing.
– With Dominique Scali
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