Systematic and repeated screening for Covid-19 at school, recommended in an opinion from the Scientific Council, is being debated at the Ministry of National Education. Heard this Tuesday by the Committee for Cultural Affairs and Education of the National Assembly on the start of the new school year, Jean Michel Blanquer was cautious: “I obviously pay great attention to the opinion of the Scientific Council (…) , and in particular to the screening policy which is recommended. And indeed, testing was a big pillar of our strategy last year to keep schools open, ”he said.
“The strategy of testing children in an extremely repeated, extremely massive manner does not only have advantages,” he continued, however. For example, the French Pediatric Society warns that there can be both something anxiety-provoking and complicated about doing this repeatedly. “
No explosion of contaminations
Jean-Michel Blanquer added that the government recommended “in certain territories, when the circulation of the virus appears particularly strong, to be able to possibly have this type of policies”, and was “in dialogue obviously with the health authorities for this “.
But “in any case, the management of the crisis since the start of the school year has not led us to this explosion of contaminations, and everyone can see it too, in French society, since the incidence rate, contrary to what some predicted, did not bounce back because of the start of the school year, ”he said.
Systematic and weekly screening recommended
According to an opinion of the Scientific Council of September 13 Quoted by The world, screening for Covid-19 should be systematic and weekly in elementary school. In this opinion not having been made public, the experts believe that “only children detected positive would then be sent home”.
“In middle and high schools, the opinion recommends screening, the day after the appearance of a proven case, all students of the same level (and not just students of the same class, given the large mixing of adolescents among themselves). But, then, it would be enough to isolate only the positive pupils ”, indicates The world.
Currently, the protocol retained by the Ministry of Education provides that a case of Covid in a primary school class leads to a closure. In the event of contamination in middle or high school, students with unvaccinated contact cases must isolate themselves for one week.