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SCHOOLS

‘Premature plan’: Row on opening schools and Kitas intensifies in Germany

Schools and Kitas around Germany have been reopening - but a row has broken out over both the speed and strictness at which they're doing so.

'Premature plan': Row on opening schools and Kitas intensifies in Germany
Children at a Kita in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on May 20th after it reopened on May 18th. Photo: DPA

In some states, such as Thuringia, all primary school students will return to the classroom at the same time, with municipalities able to decide for themselves if social distancing requirements should be put in place.

READ ALSO: State by state: When are schools and Kitas around Germany reopening?

Yet politicians and researchers have warned against a quick return to normality amid uncertainty about how the virus can spread among children.

“The truth is that we currently have a situation which is being studied, and that does not allow any real conclusions to be drawn about the extent to which children contribute to the spread of the virus,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine on Thursday. 

“There are very different evaluations – and that makes it particularly difficult to make political decisions.”

Spahn pointed out that new scientific knowledge about the virus was available almost daily. This also forces politicians to change assessments and adapt new measures.

READ ALSO: When and how will Germany's daycare centres reopen?

“The areas of kindergarten and primary school are particularly difficult,” he said.

Slowly reopening – but huge differences among states

In order to contain the spread of coronavirus, all of Germany's 16 state states closed schools and day-care centers (Kitas) in mid-March. 

In the meantime, school operations are being gradually ramped up around the country, but there is no uniform procedure on when pupils can return to the classroom or daycare.

Last Monday, Saxony was the first state in Germany to reopen primary schools and daycare centres at limited capacity. Instead of relying on small groups and distance rules, groups and classes are separated from each other.

Schleswig-Holstein also decided on Wednesday that all primary school children there should go back to the classroom from June 8th on a daily basis.

Starting in mid-June, Saxony-Anhalt is also aiming to have a full-class operation for primary school pupils again. In Baden-Württemberg this is planned from the end of June.

Full day-care centre openings are also on the horizon, with many states planning a full opening by start of summer holidays on June 29th.

READ ALSO: State by state: When (and how) will Germany's schools reopen again?

Yet the trade union for education and science (GEW) considers the health of educators and teachers to be at risk through the states' “premature” move to reopen.

The plans are considered premature, said GEW state chair Astrid Henke. The larger the group of children, the greater the danger to the health of the educators, she said. 

Children at a Kita in Schriesheim, Baden-Württemberg washing their hands on May 18th. Photo: DPA

“People should continue to keep a distance of 1.5 metres between themselves. However, this should not apply to 25 children in primary school classes that are often too small and difficult to ventilate. What a contradiction,” said Henke.

The President of the German Teachers' Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, also warned against resuming full school operations.

“This requires a completely new hygiene and health protection plan, which cannot simply be pulled out of a hat”, Meidinger told the Passauer Neue Presse on Thursday.

If distance rules were to be dispensed with and all pupils brought back into the classroom, breathing masks in class, comprehensive testing, small study groups throughout the school day and regular ventilation would be necessary.

“The current hygiene concept of the Conference of Education Ministers would have to be completely revised,” said Meidinger.

'A lost generation'

The German Children's Aid Association, on the other hand, warned of serious consequences for children and young people if schools and Kitas were not to reopen completely soon.

“We must not allow the collateral damage to grow,” President Thomas Krüger told Die Welt on Thursday. 

“The lack of the familiar teaching and learning environment is a serious interference with the living environment and the fundamental rights of children, which also impairs their psycho-social development.”

There is also the fear of disadvantages they carry on later on in life to the labour market.

“We will have to deal with a lost generation if we do not quickly open up schools and day-care centres completely,” said Krüger.

The Left Party (Die Linke) reiterated its call for a summit meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel before the summer break. 

“A key political goal for the coming weeks should be to ensure that schools and daycare centres throughout Germany can resume regular operations by the end of the summer break,” faction leader Dietmar Bartsch told the daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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