Since the start of the school year, 3,438 cases of infection have been detected among students and teachers. It is mainly children of basic education who are affected, because they are not vaccinated.
Several deputies are beginning to worry about the epidemiological situation in the school environment given the figures published abroad. Everywhere else, children under the age of twelve, in particular, are infected with the virus, which circulates freely in this unvaccinated population.
In a joint response from the Ministers of National Education and Health to MPs Martine Hansen and Claude Wiseler, a graph illustrates the rise in the number of contaminations in recent weeks.
Between September 15 and November 21, 2,234 cases were recorded in basic education and 1,204 cases in secondary education, including teachers. The president of the SNE union, Patrick Remakel, declared on RTL on Thursday that it was becoming difficult to continue to provide education in this situation. Some municipalities would no longer be able to operate the school normally due to a lack of teaching staff, a scarce commodity already long before the pandemic.
Rapid tests and the wearing of masks for teachers are measures that could improve the situation, according to the trade unionist. In any case, the incidence rate of new cases in the school population is currently higher in basic education today than it was last year at the same period.
On the other hand, this rate is lower from one year to the next for high school students. “This is explained by the fact that 70% of secondary school students are vaccinated, which slows down the circulation of the virus and thereby demonstrates the effectiveness of the vaccine”, explains the government in its response to the parliamentary question.
The high incidence rate among the youngest is also explained by the fact that self-tests are carried out more frequently and reveal many positive cases. The week of November 8, 118 cases were thus detected at the basic level via the self-tests, which represents 40% of all cases of that same week.
The self-tests are therefore to be considered necessary to prevent the spread of the virus, according to the joint response of the Ministers of National Education and Health. Even if the deputies complain about a lack of communication concerning the epidemiological situation in the school environment, the ministers wish to reassure on the good functioning of the interministerial steering committee which meets twice a week since the beginning of the school year. .
He assesses the situation, discusses concrete problems and makes proposals to remedy them, when they are not recommendations, as soon as many cases are detected in the same school. In this case, scenario 4 is implemented, when several classes are affected in a school or more than five positive cases in the same class.
Few hospitalizations
The weekly report from the Health Department published on Wednesday indicates that the Boudersberg school in Dudelange currently has one class in quarantine, the Raoul-Follereau school in Rambrouch as well, while at the Chemin Rouge school in Sanem, four classes were quarantined with an exit waiver to attend classes and two other classes were quarantined without an exit waiver.
These figures, which may seem alarming, do not lead to an increase in hospitalizations. The ministers say it is extremely rare for a child or adolescent to end up in a care service since the start of the pandemic. No deaths were to be deplored in this age category in Luxembourg.
On the other hand, the unvaccinated in the category of 50 years and over are likely to come to saturate the hospital services in the coming weeks given the increase in contaminations. The ministers warn that at that time new measures could be decided and they are currently in discussion to propose some also concerning the teachers and the pupils.
Read also ➡ Covid-19: Luxembourgish children soon to be vaccinated?
Genevieve Montaigu
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