Isn’t there a risk that infections will spike after children return?
Absolutely. After the new guidelines were released, Søren Brostsrøm, the authority’s director, said that he expected a resurgence in infections after pupils return to school.
“There’s no doubt that infection will increase in Danish society, partly because we are opening up institutions and workplaces and partly because we are changing our contact patterns when we come home from holiday,” he told the broadcaster TV2.
But he said that the high number of vaccinated people meant that higher levels of infection could be tolerated.
“We are doing this first and foremost because we have a massively high vaccine coverage in Denmark, especially among the elderly and vulnerable, who are the ones at risk of becoming seriously ill.”
“We are raising the threshold without letting go of the reins, so hopefully we will have a relatively normal school year.”
What’s the big change?
The biggest change is that classes will no longer be sent home, or their schools closed, if one of their classmates tests positive for coronavirus.
Pupils will now only be sent home if there are “major outbreaks or other special situations”.
This will be the case, for example, if more than 30 to 40 people at the school are infected, if there is a super-spreading event at the school, or if there are new and particularly worrying coronavirus variants among those infected.
Schools must contact the Danish Agency for Patient Safety for advice before sending a class or school home.
“We would very much like to help get schooling back to normal as it was before the coronavirus epidemic,” said Andreas Rudkjøbing, a doctor at the authority in a press release announcing the new guidelines. “Therefore, our priority is to ensure that the schools remain open as far as possible.”
In addition, pupils will no longer be considered to have been “in close contact” with an infected person simply because they are in the same class. They will need to have been less than one metre away for more than 15 minutes.
What restrictions are still in place?
On June 11th, Denmark removed most of the restrictions which had been placed on schools since they returned after the first lockdown in April 2020.
Get vaccinated Stay home and get tested if you get symptom Keep distance Ventilate and create draft Wash your hands often or use rubbing alcohol Clean, especially surfaces that many people touch
Member comments