Status: 02.10.2021 9:00 a.m.
The dispute over the mask requirement in schools rages on: Medical associations plead for abolition and refer to the low number of infections. The virologist Brinkmann, on the other hand, thinks the move is “pretty stupid”.
In the debate about a mask requirement in schools, doctors’ representatives have spoken out in favor of abolishing the measure. “It is completely inappropriate that children and young people have to wear a mask for hours in class, while adults can go to the pub in the evening without a mask,” said medical president Klaus Reinhardt of the editorial network Germany. The mask requirement in class should now be dropped nationwide in all types of schools.
The president of the professional association of paediatricians, Thomas Fischbach, made a similar statement. “I consider a general continuation of a mask requirement in schools to be inappropriate,” said Fischbach to the newspapers of the Funke media group. He sees no reason why elementary school students should generally continue to wear masks in class, especially since they contribute significantly less to the infection process than adolescents and adults. The decision must be based on the incidence values and the age of the children. Fischbach criticized that it could not be that the youngest “continue to be expected to wear a mask by society in order to show consideration for those who refuse to be vaccinated”.
Saarland and Bavaria are doing away with mask
In several federal states, the mask requirement – sometimes for certain age groups – has already fallen. Since Friday, schoolchildren in Saarland have generally no longer had to wear a mask in class. In Bavaria, this will apply from next week. In Brandenburg schools, the mask requirement is lifted up to the sixth grade, in Berlin this rule applies from Monday. Other states such as Baden-Württemberg are also considering lifting the measure.
Virologist Melanie Brinkmann, on the other hand, considers such a step to be clearly premature. “If you want to do away with something whose benefits have been scientifically proven and which costs almost nothing, you can do that. The only question is whether it is wise,” said Brinkmann of the “Rheinische Post”. “Given the high number of non-vaccinated people, including children, I consider this decision to be premature – and to be honest, quite stupid,” criticized the virologist from the Braunschweig Helmholtz Center for Infection Research.
Risk of “Long Covid”
The German Teachers’ Association is also skeptical about the end of the mask requirement for schoolchildren, and the education union VBE also called for caution. They argue that children could also become seriously ill and point to the risk of “long covid” – the long-term consequences of an infection. Pediatricians, on the other hand, argue that there is scientific consensus that children and adolescents themselves only rarely become seriously ill from a corona infection and that they usually recover quickly.
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the coronavirus is particularly severe in children from preschool age and adolescents up to 19 years of age. The RKI experts and SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach recently warned of a corona wave in autumn and winter.