Wearing a mask at school can prevent the spread of Covid-19

Wearing a mask in the classroom will help prevent the spread of Covid-19 in school. study..

The findings also suggest that requiring school staff and students to wear masks can reduce the need to close schools as part of a blockade to prevent coronavirus infection.

A must-have face mask in various settings is one of the most controversial elements of the pandemic, raising emotions among both those who oppose and agree with wearing a mask.

However, school closures have disrupted the education of millions of people around the world and are diverse. Unfavorable Impact on children, including malnutrition, social isolation, and loss of learning.

Therefore, evidence of a viable alternative to school closures is seen as a very positive step in efforts to contain the virus.

The study, led by the Rostock University Hospital in Germany, investigated the effects of many measures, including wearing masks, on the transmission of the virus in schools and kindergartens in Mecklenbury-West Pomerania in northeastern Germany. I did.

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Researchers have found that the outbreak was more severe when adults were the source or proband, whereas children were the primary source of Covid-19 in school.

However, when teachers and other school staff wear masks, the number of secondary cases is significantly reduced, which has helped prevent outbreaks, according to a study published in the Frontier Journal of Public Health. rice field.

“To avoid high incidence of school closures, it is important to identify the factors that contribute to the spread of Covid-19 infections in schools and kindergartens,” said Dr. Anika Kästner of the Greifswald University School of Medicine in Germany. I am. ..

Researchers have identified Covid-19 infections in schools and kindergartens in two phases: when the school is open, that is, when it is not necessary to wear a mask, and when staff and students need to wear a mask. I checked the incidence.

They found that adult probands caused an average of 4.5 secondary cases and pediatric probands caused an average of 0.3 secondary cases when they were not obliged to wear masks.

However, when masks were required, the number of secondary cases with adult probands decreased to 0.5, while those with pediatric probands remained at 0.3 secondary cases.

In kindergartens where only adults need to wear masks, secondary cases with adult probands increased from 0.6 before the mandatory masking to 2.6 with masks. Researchers have reduced this to the prevalence of delta variants during the masked stage. This caused more infections in children.

The number of preschool secondary cases in which the child was the first patient was 0.5 both before and after masking became mandatory.

This suggests that wearing masks, especially among teachers and other school staff, may play an important role in stopping the spread of the virus and keeping the school open. increase.

“Our results show that forced masking of teachers, caregivers and children at school in grades 2020-2021 significantly reduced the number of Covid-19 infections.” Said Dr. Martine Sombetzki of Rostock University Hospital. Lead author of the study.

There are many caveats to this study. In particular, research was done before the emergence of the more contagious strain of the virus, Omicron, but it is still unclear what difference it will make.

The study also does not consider the effects of vaccinations that are not systematically registered in Germany and also assumes that schools are implementing hygiene measures such as regular hand washing.

Nonetheless, this study shows that wearing a mask helps limit the spread of the coronavirus, Kästner said.

“Especially adult mask obligations have been shown to be effective in reducing secondary cases,” she said.

“Therefore, we can always recommend masking, which is mandatory at school, for both children and adults. In kindergarten, wearing a mask can also reduce secondary cases.”