The start of the All Saints holidays will not be like the last days of school in October. In 39 departments, the mask will return to school as the Covid-19 epidemic is on the rise again. Why such a government flip-flop? Can the mask for schoolchildren stem an explosion in the number of cases? 20 minutes make the point.
Who puts the mask back on and why?
The rule was simple: in departments where the incidence rate of Covid-19 is less than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the mask could be removed at school. The measure concerned up to 79 departments, while Lozère had decided to return to the mask even before the holidays. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced Wednesday the return of the mask to school in 39 departments that no longer met this criterion, or 61 departments in total.
As of October 31, national incidence rate was 61.71, above the alert threshold. But this figure hides strong disparities: it has crossed the 100 mark in Bouches-du-Rhône, flirts with the line in Charente and fell to 10.5 in Nièvre. Deceptive figures, warns epidemiologist Catherine Hill, for whom “the circulation of the virus is underestimated”. All the major indicators have been on the rise since mid-October: hospital admissions, intensive care units and even the number of deaths per week. “We made the wrong decisions on the wrong indicators,” said Catherine Hill.
Can the return of the mask stem an explosion in the number of cases?
“Was it a good idea to delete it the first time?” No, ”says the epidemiologist. The virus circulates, and all the more easily at school as the 9.4 million children under 12 are not vaccinated. The mask was thus the most effective and straightforward barrier for them. His return therefore seems sensible, a sort of reminder that one should not abandon barrier gestures, continue to wash hands and ventilate the classrooms.
But the mask does not only protect children. If a schoolboy is infected by a friend unmasked, there is a direct risk of “infecting the nanny at risk or the neighbor anti-vaccine,” recalls Catherine Hill. All the more so if the child does not develop symptoms, while prevention tests at school are still too rare.
What more can we do?
Despite Jean-Michel Blanquer’s announcements, only one class in ten on average is tested each week, via individual saliva tests. And only the class where the virus is detected is closed. “What sense does it have if we don’t shut down the others where the virus is also circulating? “Asks Catherine Hill. In the departments where the mask has fallen, contamination in the playground thus appears inevitable. The epidemiologist pleads for “group tests, which would test each class twice a week”.
But it is too early to think about vaccinating 5-11 year olds, as in the United States. “Ethically, it’s complicated, and that would only be to compensate for insufficient coverage among adults,” she said. However, the French are much better vaccinated than the Americans. So would it be best to go back to wearing a mask everywhere? At the rate of contamination, we could well get there.