It is up to the cabinet whether or not to respond to the call by the so-called Red Team to close the schools, says Red Team member Wim Schellekens. On the one hand, the cabinet should prevent schools from becoming hotbeds, says Schellekens, but on the other hand, he believes that children need school and closure has major social consequences.
The Red Team is an independent group of doctors and scientists who provide solicited and unsolicited advice on how to combat the corona crisis. Anthropologist Ginny Mooy of the Red Team told BNR on Tuesday morning that the schools should be closed immediately, because many students seem to contract the corona virus.
Just like Schellekens, however, Red Team member Marino van Zelst also thinks it is a bit more nuanced. According to him, closing the schools is only an option as part of a general lockdown. The Red Team previously argued for “quick, short and powerful intervention” by means of strict rules so that mutual contact is limited as much as possible.
Van Zelst, PhD student in organizational sciences at Tilburg University, does not think it is a good idea to close the schools now. “Of course it does a lot of damage, so only in the context of such a strict lockdown should it be considered.”
So weighing up all social interests lies with the cabinet, says Schellekens, former Chief Inspector of Healthcare and Youth. “We just want to make things better, the cabinet has to take the plunge.”
The Red Team is “very concerned”, according to Schellekens. The percentage of positive tests among children is high. 15 to 25 percent of the children tested get a positive result, he says. There is also an increasing dropout rate among teachers. Schellekens fears that the schools will become hotbeds for the virus in this way, something that was previously also the case in other countries such as Israel.
By: ANP | Photo: De Goudse Hofsteden children’s farm
–
