For microbiologist Michael Wagner from the University of Vienna, who was responsible for the throat study in schools, these changes are currently incomprehensible. He expects this to increase the risk of infection for the children. “It would have been better to wait until Easter,” says Wagner.
“Taking this step when there are peak incidences is a strange signal,” says the scientist, amazed at the easing. The number of infections in the (largely unvaccinated) age group of schoolchildren is already high and due to the partial elimination of the mask requirement “more children will certainly be infected than with masks,” emphasizes Wagner. After all, these are an extremely effective measure against infection, even if they are not always worn properly in these age groups.
“When it comes to protecting our children, that’s a premature step,” he says, skeptical about the new requirements. For him, it is incomprehensible why the government did not wait until Easter to relax, when in all likelihood the omicron wave has largely subsided and, thanks to the weather, much lower incidences can be expected again. It is clear that due to the immune escape properties and the rapid multiplication of omicrons, masks and tests in schools cannot completely prevent children from becoming infected. So far, however, in addition to maintaining school operations, one goal has also been to give more students time to take advantage of a vaccination offer or to protect their younger siblings from transmission in the household, for which there are currently no approved vaccines.
After all, it makes a big difference whether the virus hits a vaccinated child or an immunologically naive one, says Wagner, referring to the dangerous hyperinflammatory syndrome and long covid that occur in some children after a corona infection. Omikron also sees higher hospitalization rates than with previous variants, especially among younger people.
In addition to the individual risk that an illness entails, Wagner also fears a massive disruption to school operations due to an increase in the number of cases of infection. This then also has an impact on the economy, after all, many parents would then have to look after sick children at the same time. “I see no reason for these changes at this time – unless the main goal of the measures in the school area was to protect the adult intensive care units from overload”.
Source: Nachrichten
