In early November 2020, the government set up a school screening strategy, which evolves over the course of the epidemic. This January 18, 2021, it will be supplemented by additional measures to strengthen the health protocol in the canteen and during physical activities in confined spaces.
What screening goals at school?
On January 14, during an update on the Covid-19 health situation, the government indicated its desire to speed up the screening of children. And for good reason, he is worried about the presence on the territory of mutated forms of SARS-CoV-2 and in particular of the English and South African variants, whose particularity is to be more transmissible. In England, when the new variant took priority, the government was forced to confine the country and close schools. For now, the English variant represents a little more than 1% of positive test cases in France, but the government wants to anticipate. Also, approximately 300,000 tests must be deployed per academy each week for a target of 1 million tests each month.
Which children and teachers are tested first?
Children are affected by tests from the age of 6, but parental permission is required. The tests carried out by health personnel primarily target schools in geographic areas where the virus is actively circulating. Each time three positive cases are detected in the same establishment, a screening team will come to carry out these examinations.
Recently, a certificate allowing to refuse the test of his child began to circulate on the Internet. An internet user posted this derogatory rider, passing it off as a trick to counter school, as LCI explains. However, remember that School tests are not mandatory, even with symptoms, and never have been.
This means that no child can be tested without parental permission. Despite a growing screening policy, this point will remain unchanged, the authorities assured. So, this document (which is not official) prohibiting the educational and / or medical staff of the school to perform a test on the pupil, is totally useless. That said, the Ministry of Education asks parents to commit not to send their child to school if he presents symptoms reminiscent of Covid-19 (fever in particular).
What health protocol at school?
The school health protocol has grown since the children returned to class at the end of the 2019/2020 school year. Wearing a mask is compulsory for all children from primary school, and of course for all supervising staff. If this is not respected, the directors of establishments can offer a mask to the child, or refuse him entry. This makes it possible in particular to limit as much as possible the risk of transmission of Covid-19 in establishments and to have to deploy massive screening strategies.
Physical distancing complements the wearing of a mask : at least one meter when physically possible, at least in an enclosed space. Special mixing rules have been put in place to organize the flow of children in order to limit meetings as much as possible. Recreations are for example organized in groups.
Also on the canteen side, the brewing has been reviewed. Particular attention is paid to hand hygiene and catering equipment (tables and chairs regularly disinfected). The seats are arranged to prevent the students from being too close. On the other hand, all rooms must be ventilated for at least 15 minutes every two hours.
Read also:
- Coronavirus: are children under 5 extremely contagious?
- Why do some children develop immunity to Covid-19 without having caught it?
