Schools in Spain will only close temporarily if the coronavirus spreads through students and staff in a generalized way after they reopen for the new school year this September. That’s according to the protocol that has been put together by the central Health Ministry and that is being debated today by the central government and the country’s autonomous regions, who have powers over education and healthcare, among other areas.
The Spanish Health Ministry reported on Thursday that 9,658 new coronavirus cases had been detected by the regions. This is the largest spike in infections that Spain has seen since it entered a second wave of the virus, and confirms the upward trend of Covid-19 transmission, which has been rising since the beginning of August.
The text sets out “three possible scenarios” according to the severity of the spread of the virus.” The first refers to the existence of “isolated outbreaks or sporadic cases,” which will be dealt with via “the habitual control measures: isolation of cases and identification and quarantine of contacts” within each bubble group.
If the situation is complicated due to “complex outbreaks or sporadic community transmission,” the second scenario will be brought into play. In this event, “the chains of transmission cannot easily be identified or appear in different branches, with more than one generation of cases,” affecting more than one bubble. To stop the spread of the virus in these cases, the closure of some classes will be considered, while the circle of contacts who must go into quarantine will be widened.
The third scenario involves “uncontrolled community transmission” of the virus in the school, with a large number of cases. In these situations, “regional public health services will carry out a risk evaluation to consider the need to scale up measures, including as a last resort the temporary closure of the education center.”
The protocol insists that children and teaching staff who present symptoms compatible with the coronavirus must not go to their schools under any circumstance and should stay at home. Should the symptoms begin while on the premises, the suspected cases should wear a surgical mask, and be transferred to a separate area. Family members will be notified, as well as the person responsible for managing the coronavirus situation in each school.
El Pais
