Back to school arrives after the Christmas holidays, a few days in which the infections by omicron have not given up and we have not yet reached the maximum peak that marks the expected start of the descent.
In addition to not letting our guard down with the anticovid measures that we all already know by heart (mask, interpersonal distance and hand hygiene) and not bringing a sick child to class, the Public Health Commission recommends the following.
1. Requirements to confine an entire class
As a novelty with respect to previous indications, the Public Health Commission has established that the requirement to confine an entire classroom is that there are at least five positives or that 20% of the class is affected during a period of seven days or less. . If that situation occurs, all students will have to stay home in quarantine. What is sought with this measure is, according to the Commission, to encourage attendance.
2. Close contacts
Close contacts must stay at home , in isolation, for 7 days after contact with a positive unless they have the complete vaccination schedule . If there is no reason to quarantine, contact with vulnerable people must be avoided, the mask must continue to be worn and mass events must be avoided.
Students up to 12 years old who are contact of a positive will not have to quarantine whether they are vaccinated or not.
3. Contacts that are not close
Children who are not close contacts of a positive should continue to attend class .
4. Mask also at recess
As of January 10, children will have to wear a mask also at recess. In September the course began with this rule, but as the weeks went by the measure was relaxed.
5. Is it necessary to do PCR to get out of isolation?
The answer is no . A PCR that is positive for a long time may indicate that the virus is present but is no longer contagious as long as the isolation time is exceeded.
6. What should be done if the child has symptoms?
If our child presents symptoms compatible with COVID-19, we will not take him to school . In this case, we must contact our health center by phone or whoever has been designated for this purpose from our autonomous community to report the case and find out if we should do a test. Until we have the relevant health indications, the child must stay at home and avoid contact as much as possible. If you have respiratory problems or you feel serious, we will call 112 without delay.
7. Can children share class objects?
Yes, but extreme hand hygiene is recommended and avoid bringing them to the nose, mouth and eyes. If they are objects that are going to be shared between different groups of schoolchildren, their thing is to clean them between uses.
8. Ventilation
The recommendation is to ventilate the classrooms by opening doors and/or windows opposite each other or on different sides of the room so that air can circulate. If possible, this cross ventilation will be maintained at all times.
The facilities of the center must be ventilated frequently, at least for 10-15 minutes before and after the start and end of the day, during recess and whenever possible between classes.
9. Continue to maintain hand hygiene
Hand washing is recommended, preferably with soap and water and secondarily with hydroalcoholic gel, after touching surfaces that others have touched, before entering the school and when leaving, before going to recess and when returning, before eating and after to go to the service.
*The measures will be carried out equally in all the autonomous communities.
