Teachers question voluntary use of masks in schools

At least 10 cases of teachers infected with covid-19 have been registered by the Teachers’ Union of El Salvador (SIMEDUCO) in the municipalities of San Salvador and Ahuachapán, since the mandatory use of masks in schools was withdrawn, said the general secretary of that guild, Francisco Zelada.

Zelada explained to THE GRAPHIC PRESS that these infections occurred after April 21, when the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabi, and the interim Minister of Education, Mauricio Pineda, announced that the use of masks became voluntary, even in the educational centers, because coronavirus cases were down in El Salvador.

The union leader pointed out that the registered cases involve teachers affiliated with SIMEDUCO. “Most of the teachers go for the fourth vaccine, but despite having the fourth vaccine, the teachers have been victims of contagion. The 10 cases correspond to teachers and their wives, their children, their family groups. We criticize the decision of the Ministry of Health because the virus continues to cause victims,” ​​Zelada said.

He added that teachers consider that “it is not convenient” to suspend the mandatory use of masks. “We thought that the call was going to be for face-to-face classes, maintaining the use of the mask; however, the measure has been taken in another way and now we cannot require the use of masks in schools,” he said.

On the other hand, the general secretary of SIMEDUCO stated that teachers are making the effort to include the purchase of masks in their budgets to reduce the risk of contagion in educational centers.

In the first six days of June, the Ministry of Health (MINSAL) recorded 929 new cases of covid-19 and this figure exceeds the infections registered in the previous two months.

In addition, as of June 6, 1,403 active cases have been reported and this record is also the most pronounced in the last two months in El Salvador. According to foreign entities, the country is in the fifth wave of infections.