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EDUCATION

First schools in Germany reopen to pupils – under new measures

Thousands of children in northern Germany became the first in Europe to begin a new school year on Monday, with the rest of the country watching anxiously as full-time classes began after months of curtailed hours over the coronavirus pandemic.

First schools in Germany reopen to pupils - under new measures
Pupils returning to school in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo: DPA

Masks will be a daily accessory for some of the 150,000 children returning to school in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region, Germany's first state to reopen the school gates after the summer holidays.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Can Germany's schools safely reopen?

Education ministers of Germany's 16 states had agreed that schools will reopen full-time after the summer break, after offering only partial hours in the weeks when the lockdown was eased.

With infection numbers once again creeping up, fears are rising that the new school start could yet prove temporary.

But officials warn that children cannot afford to miss more school.

“The children need to be present in school because we have to prevent more lost time,” Steffen Kästner, headteacher of the CJD Jugenddorf-Christophorus school in Rostock, told AFP.

Strict rules have been drawn up to limit transmission of the new coronavirus, with cases across Germany rising above 500 per day in recent weeks.

Pupils in Rostock on Monday. Photo: DPA

Different age groups are being taught separately, so that if a pupil tests positive, only one class will have to go into quarantine and the rest of the school can remain open.

Masks must be worn in the corridors, classrooms regularly ventilated and pupils are required to wash their hands regularly and avoid hugging.

CJD has 1,350 students aged 9-18. Only two are missing, a decision by their parents, “who belong to a risk group,” said the headteacher, but all the teachers are present.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has so far been the German state least hit by the coronavirus, with only 20 deaths out of a total 9,148 in Germany since the beginning of the crisis.

Rules in other states

Hamburg will also open its doors to schoolchildren on Thursday, as well as Berlin, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia during the following week. Some of the islands in the northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein also welcomed pupils on Monday.

Some states such as Berlin, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have already announced that they will introduce compulsory face masks in school buildings.

However, pupils won’t be required to use the coverings in class. In other states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, there is talk of voluntary masks, or – as is the case in Hesse or Saxony – mandatory mask wearing at the discretion of the schools.

READ ALSO: All pupils in Germany 'should return to school before summer holidays'

Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek on Sunday spoke out in favour of compulsory masks in school buildings.

It is understandable “if the states want to eliminate social distancing rules in schools, because the spatial conditions would otherwise only allow for classes with limited attendance”, Karliczek told “Welt am Sonntag”.

“Nevertheless, in-person classes will only be able to function if further regulations on hygiene, the wearing of protective masks, as well as on keeping distance in the schoolyard and on the corridors are strictly adhered to.”

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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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