The so-called Red Team, a group of scientists who provide (un) solicited advice about the corona approach, is raising the alarm about the increasing number of infections among teenagers. The independent expert group therefore wants all schools to close for two weeks.
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From an analysis that BNR News Radio has made from RIVM figures, it appears that schoolchildren are an ever-growing group of people who are tested positive. In the week of 5 to 11 October, 8 percent of the infected people in the Netherlands were of secondary school age (12 to 17 years).
However, what worries the Red Team experts even more is the percentage of positive test results among teenagers. More than a tenth of the young people between 12 and 18 years old who have been tested appear to have the virus among the members. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this means that control of the virus has been lost within this group.
‘Open safely after 14 days’
“The Netherlands is one of the few countries in the world where children go to school without any restrictions,” anthropologist Ginny Mooy responds to the radio station. “In class, for example, it is not mandatory to keep a distance of 1.5 meters and that is not the case at all, especially in primary education.”
Also read: Teachers are worried about corona, want stricter measures at school
The Red Team therefore finds it irresponsible to keep the schools open. “Because you currently do not know what is going on in those schools and how many infections there are, we say that it is better to close the schools for a fortnight,” says Mooy. “At least then it will go down and you can open it safely afterwards.”
There are also serious concerns in education itself about the increasing number of corona infections
Editorial office / ANP
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