Dresden. More and more Dresden children, educators and teachers have to be in quarantine. The number of those affected has risen and was just under 500 on Friday morning, the city administration said. Almost 350 of them are due to corona infections in daycare centers.
Which daycare centers and schools are affected?
On Friday morning, the city administration reported two other facilities where corona cases had occurred. These are the “Abenteuerland” daycare center in Reick and the Outlaw daycare center on Hechtstrasse. The health department has ordered a quarantine for a total of 46 people. It is valid up to and including March 9th.
In addition, the close contact persons of an infected person in the after-school care center of the 4th elementary school “Am Rosengarten” in the Inner New Town have now been identified. 24 children and teachers have to stay at home there. The quarantine is valid up to and including March 10th. The case itself had already been announced on Thursday.
Currently, 346 daycare children and educators from 15 facilities are forcibly at home in Dresden. At the schools it looks a little more relaxed, although they started regular operations on Monday last week at the same time as the daycare centers. As of Friday morning, 149 students and teachers from five schools are in quarantine.
According to the specified quarantine period, more than 460 of the total of 524 quarantine cases are due to contacts after regular operations resumed on Monday last week. The remaining quarantine orders, around 30, have their origin in contacts in emergency care or in lessons for final classes, which began on January 18.
The health department does not disclose any details about children or educators or teachers. It is also unclear where the infected people were infected.
What is the infection situation in children in Dresden?
A query at the Robert Koch Institute showed that 152 babies, daycare children and primary school children have been infected since the beginning of the year, six of them this week so far. In fact, comparatively few infections have so far been detected in children from Dresden.
For example, the total incidence among people from 0 to four years of age in Dresden is around 1,100 infections per 100,000 children in this age group. For comparison: For those over 80 years of age, the RKI gives the overall incidence of around 4,000 infections per 100,000 people in this age group.
However, due to the infection protection, a few cases are sufficient to sweep entire classrooms and kindergarten rooms, as the current situation shows.
How many children are in daycare centers and schools again?
According to the State Office for Schools and Education, about 94 percent of Dresden’s primary school students were back in the classroom last Monday. The rest stayed at home. School attendance is suspended in Saxony. Parents therefore decide for themselves whether their child will take part in face-to-face classes again or study at home.
There is a little less going on in the daycare centers. Last Wednesday, around 22,000 of the usual 26,500 children were counted in the city’s facilities. This corresponds to around 83 percent, reports the administration. The attendance rate for independent organizations is in a similar range: The German Red Cross (DRK) reports that 80 to 90 percent of the children are cared for, while at the Diakonie, according to a spokeswoman, 83 percent. At the Johanniter, 90 to 95 percent of the children are back, according to a spokesman. Only a few children were missing from the Awo, according to request.
What happens if a corona case becomes known at a facility?
The primary goal is to prevent mass contamination. Therefore, a fixed timetable applies to daycare centers and schools as soon as an infection becomes known. An example: A boy goes to daycare on Thursday and gets a fever and coughs during the day. The daycare management calls the parents and asks them to pick up their child.
On Friday it turns out that the boy is actually infected. The daycare management is now starting to identify all persons 48 hours before the first symptoms had close contact with the boy – So on Thursday, Wednesday and Tuesday. This period also applies if a child has been symptom-free and tested positive for the coronavirus. The number of contacts should be kept within limits, since children are looked after or taught in fixed groups.
The contact list is sent to the health department. At the same time, the daycare centers inform the parents of the children concerned. A 14-day quarantine now applies to all close contacts. The official start of quarantine is the day of the last contact with the infected boy. So those who played with him on Thursday have to stay at home one day longer than those who last dealt with him on Wednesday. The quarantine can be shortened with a negative test, from the tenth day at the earliest.
In the following days, the health department issues a collective notice, which is passed on to the families concerned by the daycare management. It also serves as a template for the employer if parents cannot work because of childcare. Parents are also obliged to inform the daycare center or school as soon as possible if their child has tested positive. With this procedure one adheres to the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute, so the city administration.
Can I send my child to daycare or school with a cough?
A zero tolerance policy was still in effect last spring when daycare centers and schools reopened after the first lockdown. Children had to stay at home at the slightest symptom. Parents guaranteed with their signature that the child is healthy. This time it’s a little different. Since last Monday, the following applies: Anyone who has mild symptoms of illness such as runny nose, occasional cough or scratchy throat can go to daycare or school.
If the child generally feels sick, tastes or smells worse, has a fever of over 38 degrees, coughs a lot, vomits or has diarrhea, things look different. Then they are not allowed to visit the facility again until the symptoms have subsided for at least 48 hours. A medical certificate is not necessary so the Ministry of Culture. “The assessment of whether the child is sick continues to be made by you as the parent,” it says. Parents also decide whether to take their child to the doctor if they have symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, or vomiting. If this is the case, the doctor will determine whether or not a corona test will be done.
What is being done to protect teachers and educators?
Older people are proportionally more affected by corona infections than children. It is not unlikely that educators or teachers will bring the virus into daycare centers and schools. On the other hand, older educators have an increased risk of getting more seriously ill with Covid-19. Early diagnosis is important if they become infected in children.
In order to detect infections as quickly as possible, teachers can already be tested voluntarily and free of charge. Starting this week, this should also be made possible for educators. The Ministry of Culture speaks of one test per week.
The smears should be carried out by trained personnel. The municipal day-care centers have prepared their own employees accordingly, and there is now a team that carries out the tests in the facilities. In addition, medical and FFP2 masks were distributed to the daycare centers, and replenishment is available if necessary.
The private sponsors are also prepared. “As the carrier, we have tried to get test personnel here ourselves,” said Diakonie spokeswoman Natalie Fechner. “As a precautionary measure, we have had some educators who have had medical training trained, and we have created test concepts for the individual daycare centers.” It is said that training courses are currently being prepared at Awo.
The Johanniter are already testing regularly. Weekly, voluntary and free tests have been available since autumn. “It is important to us that our employees feel safe, so the quick tests were important to us,” says spokesman Danilo Schulz. “We pass this security on to the children and parents.”
In addition, primary school teachers and educators can already be vaccinated. Since this Thursday you can make an appointment at the vaccination center.
On Sächsische.de we would like to share very different reports from people infected with corona in Dresden. If you have already got over the illness and would like to tell us about it, write to us [email protected]ächsische.de.
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