Over 50 doctors, paediatricians, lawyers, IITians, concerned parents and public health experts have written to the chief ministers of three states, urging them to open schools. The letter dated July 28, 2021, is addressed to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, urging them to set up a task force to reopen schools safely.
The letter states that schools have incurring mounting costs of learning and development losses, though “scientific evidence” indicates that reopening with precautions is possible. Pointing out that schools are partially or fully open in almost 170 countries across the world, and that nowhere in the world are children under 12 being universally vaccinated, the letter says, “Given the costs of prolonged school closure in India, vaccination of children cannot be a prerequisite for opening schools. Further, a ‘zero case’ scenario is unlikely; COVID-19 is here to stay and the approach must now be to address risks with appropriate mitigating measures.”
The letter also says that only 13% of the adult population in Delhi is fully vaccinated and only 7% in Maharashtra and Karnataka, so vaccination of adults may also take many more months. While acknowledging that schools cannot be reopened overnight and it would require careful planning with regard to local conditions, the letter places the following points for consideration.
> Set up a task force with relevant experts on an urgent basis to plan for the opening of schools in your state, partially now, and fully in the near future
> Plan for opening schools in a staggered manner where the positivity rate is low (AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria suggested this on July 19, 2021, in an interview with India Today)
> Explore opening of pre-primary and primary before secondary schools (on 20 July 2021, ICMR suggested opening of primary schools first)
> Offer vaccines on priority to school staff and explore the reduction of the gap between doses (similar to healthcare workers and students going abroad for further studies)
> To begin with, small groups of students attend school once or twice a week
> Upgrade school infrastructure for the transition from online to a hybrid model
> Issue guidance for compliance with COVID-appropriate behaviour (masking, distancing and hand hygiene)
> Ensure appropriate ventilation
Read the full letter here.