This Monday, April 26, it’s back to school time for more than 6 million nursery and primary school students. With a strict health protocol, starting with the closing of classes from the first positive Covid case. Open-air lessons should be given priority when possible, and in the event of the absence of teachers, the pupils will no longer be distributed among the other classes, to avoid mixing.

So many new measures that could not always be anticipated according to Guislaine David, spokesperson for SNUIPP-FSU: “We had three weeks which could have been taken advantage of to start the vaccination of staff, to equip our schools, develop our schools so that there is better ventilation in the classrooms.. ”

Less precise but useful tests

The Ministry of National Education relies on massive screening in schools. 400,000 saliva tests should be performed this week, and 600,000 from mid-May. The government has also ordered 64 million self-tests, which will be intended for National Education staff and students over 15 years old. These tests will be carried out at home for staff and in schools for students.

Tests less reliable than traditional PCR tests, but which remain very useful in schools, according to Prof. Robert Cohen, pediatric infectious disease specialist: “The higher the viral load, the better the tests. The higher your viral load, the more likely you are to be contagious. These tests are not as sensitive as PCR, but it is sufficient to detect more contagious patients.. ”