The medical community in Delhi-NCR has advised schools to delay reopening as children, especially those belonging to the younger age group, are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.
“Opening schools can pose a health challenge for infection control as it will require substantial effort to condition children to follow the norms. At best we can look at older students coming to school in a phased, time and restricted manner,” said doctors.
Col. Vijay Dutta (Respiratory Medicine) of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre cited the example of the USA where 97,000 children tested positive for the virus in just the last two weeks of July — accounting for nearly a quarter of all cases reported in the period — after schools reopened.
“Delaying opening of schools can potentially save lives by reducing the risk of children getting infected, and in turn carrying the virus to their households which may comprise elderly people, a high-risk group,” said Dr. Dutta.
Repening schools will require a combination of implementing social distancing norms, hand hygiene protocols, sanitisation at regular intervals; testing of children, teacher and staff; and whether the school is near any containment zone, he added.
“It is important to assess whether the school has the capability to implement such large-scale arrangements. If the school is unable to do that, it can infect the child and cause complications such as multi-system inflammatory syndrome,” said Dr. Dutta.
Ramani Ranjan, consultant paediatrician at Motherhood Hospital in Noida, said that till a vaccine is created, phased opening of schools was the best way forward. “Instead of reopening the whole school, it should be opened in a phased manner. It will be difficult, almost impossible, for schools to enforce social distancing among children who have not seen their friends in so many months,” said Dr. Ranjan.
“Children, especially younger ones, are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19,” said Meena J., consultant paediatrician at Aakash Healthcare and Super Specialty Hospital in Dwarka.
“We must learn from the USA where reopening of schools have reportedly increased cases. As and when schools reopen, parents must take extra precaution to check safety measures... It is recommended the parents physically inspect the arrangements before sending the child to school,” he added.