Coronavirus may interfere with school rulers with state symbols

Pupils are instructed to go to remote control and sneeze into their elbows.

The Ministry of Health has updated anti-covid recommendations for schools, mentioning that the incidence rate in the Russian Federation is growing. The memo states that since July 2022, a new, sixth wave of coronavirus has been counting. The epidemiological situation in the country is deteriorating, and a mask regime has already been introduced in some places.

The recommendations specifically note that 12-13% of new coronavirus infections occur in children. Probably, new strains of “Omicron” are meant. The Ministry of Health indicates that “more than 65% of the total number of sick children are schoolchildren from 7 to 17 years old.”

In order to avoid an increase in the incidence, schools are encouraged to organize uninterrupted handwashing of students, constant ventilation of premises and social distance. “You can’t sneeze into your palm,” the memo sent to schools also says. “You have to sneeze into your elbow.” And “when you have signs of a cold, you must wear a mask.” True, it is not entirely clear who to wear: teachers, students, or all together.

As MK already wrote, many epidemiologists predict an avalanche increase in the incidence of coronavirus from the 20th of September. Like, new modifications of the Omicron strain are more contagious than the previous ones. Although it is not so fatal in terms of side effects for blood vessels and lungs.

If the sixth wave is coming, it is uneven. In five regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tatarstan, Dagestan, Gorny Altai, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Novosibirsk and Vologda regions, the wearing of masks in schools has already been recommended. Next in line, perhaps, is the Tyumen region, where a sharp increase in the incidence has also been noted.

However, a strict mask regime is still in effect only in Tuva and Buryatia. Parents in these regions have been waiting with bated breath for the announcement of remote work since September 5 – it has not yet followed. Although the rules for distance learning are unchanged, and the Ministry of Health also reminds them: a class goes to remote learning if 20% of students or more fall ill. If 20% or more of all students in a school are sick, the entire school goes remote.

A separate topic is coronavirus restrictions and rulers with state symbols in schools, which became mandatory from September 1. The patriotic triad: first the raising of the flag and the anthem, then the class hour “Talk about the important” – was introduced in every school in the Russian Federation. But in 2020-21 lines were banned. And, for example, in the Omsk region, the local headquarters for the fight against coronavirus introduced sanitary restrictions of previous years. General school meetings can only be held outdoors. In the premises, mass gatherings are prohibited by Rosobrnadzor. You can only get together with your own class, but not with the whole school or even 2-3 classes. As it became known to MK, there are no clarifications regarding the holding of patriotic ceremonies in case of tightening anti-coronavirus measures in schools.

“We weren’t specified how to combine these solemn lines with coronavirus restrictions, we didn’t receive any recommendations,” says Lidia Leonidova, head teacher of the Moscow school. Let’s solve problems as they come up. Now in our school, for example, even more is being done than prescribed. We did not stop temperature monitoring at the entrance either in the spring or now, starting from September 1st. We take everyone’s temperature. This was the decision of the Board of Trustees of the school, so we have in all branches. But it should be noted that our schools are small. We also continue to use dispensers with antiseptic liquid, we try to spread out classes in circles in time. And keep a close eye on the sick. At the first sign of illness, we ask parents to take their children home immediately.

So far, I do not see any sharp increase in diseases in our school.