In Russian children’s institutions, New Year’s events began to be canceled en masse: people are suffering from the flu

As the holidays approach, the number of children sick with influenza, ARVI and coronavirus, unfortunately, continues to grow. It is no longer just individual classes and schools, but entire regions that are going into quarantine. Thus, quarantine in Smolensk schools has been extended until the end of the year, where the incidence rate continues to exceed threshold values ​​- despite the fact that schools have already been in distance learning since December 18.

In this regard, in many educational institutions, where there is no quarantine yet, holiday matinees and Christmas trees are cancelled.

The geography of the harmful impact of the outbreak is increasingly wider: for example, in the Kaluga region, 110 classes and 5 schools were closed for quarantine, in Novosibirsk – 66 classes in 21 schools, in the city of Pervouralsk, students of school No. 7 were transferred to distance learning due to quarantine due to pneumonia. The situation is difficult in many other areas, including Moscow and the region. Here, schoolchildren began to fall ill with influenza and latent pneumonia en masse—the majority of hospitalized children had these diagnoses.

Therefore, many regions of Russia are thinking about introducing restrictions on New Year’s events. Well, while the management is thinking about this and weighing all the pros and cons, children’s Christmas trees and matinees are being canceled by schools and kindergartens on their own initiative due to the worsening epidemiological situation.

“We decided not to risk the health of our students and not to hold a New Year’s holiday,” says the class teacher of one of the Moscow schools. – Of course, it’s a pity, the guys were preparing a performance and a concert, but the administration, together with the parents’ committee, came to the conclusion that health is more important. We already have a lot of sick people at school. And if their number increases and quarantine is introduced, then not only health, but also the educational process will suffer.

Help “MK”. Quarantine is a special regime for conducting the educational process, which includes a number of restrictive measures, introduced when there is a danger of the spread of the disease in groups. If more than 20% of children do not attend class due to influenza, ARVI, or other respiratory diseases, classes are suspended for a week, that is, for the duration of the incubation period. If necessary, quarantine may be extended. Sometimes not only individual classes are quarantined, but entire schools, and even all educational institutions in a city or town. The same measures apply to kindergartens.

In the parent chat in Yekaterinburg, they are also discussing the cancellation of matinees and Christmas trees, which began to happen here and there.

“It’s a shame to get sick on holiday, and on subsequent long-awaited holidays,” writes one of the mothers. – All plans will be ruined, and without rest the children will feel bad. It’s better to do without a matinee than to get sick on New Year’s Eve!

Agencies organizing children’s parties also confirm the cancellation of holiday events:

“There are refusals – I won’t say that they are massive, but there are many more of them than usual – from Santa Clauses already ordered for schools and kindergartens, from New Year’s programs,” they say in one of these agencies. – And birthday celebrations in children’s centers are also cancelled. The motivation in all cases is the same: we don’t want to create mass gatherings of children because we are afraid of infection.

Is it possible to avoid infection during a disease outbreak? And what should be done for this? “MK” turned to general practitioner Olga Khmelevskaya with these questions.

“Of course, not taking part in mass events is the most correct and effective thing that can be done for this purpose. And so that the children don’t get upset, replace the holiday with a walk in nature, skiing, and you can invite Santa Claus to spend the holiday in the yard – this was done often during the coronavirus pandemic.

But there are other mandatory measures. For example, wash your hands as often as possible! Many people believe that viruses are transmitted only through airborne droplets, but this is not true.

And upon returning home, I strongly advise you to wash the inside of your nose – there may be viruses there that have not yet had time to penetrate the mucous membrane. It is better to wash with baby soap, but if this causes irritation, then at least just water.

And one more important point: now, due to the cold weather, people are less likely to ventilate their premises – both apartments, classrooms or offices. For this reason, infections spread much faster. Be sure to ventilate your homes, this will also increase your chances of avoiding illness!