The fifth wave did not stop at the doors of schools. While the number of contaminations and hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 has reached an unprecedented level since August, the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, announced on Tuesday that 6,000 classes had had to close because students had tested positive. A figure that worries Nageate Belahcen, co-president of the FCPE, the main federation of parents of pupils, who was alarmed on Wednesday November 24 at the microphone of franceinfo about the consequences of the health situation on the “educational continuity”, distance courses not having “not taken”, according to her.
Classes and schools closed, incidence rate among students, positive staff … Franceinfo looks back on the indicators which show that the new wave of contamination does not spare the educational world.
The number of closed classes is the highest since the start of the school year
By revealing Tuesday that 6,000 classes had to close their doors due to cases of Covid-19 contamination, Jean-Michel Blanquer took a step ahead: the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports communicates usually these figures on Fridays, after having made them up academy by academy on Thursday at 1 p.m.
The last official statistics, therefore dating back to Friday, November 19, reported 4,048 classes closed due to Covid. In just five days, this value has therefore increased by more than 48% to reach the 6,000 classes concerned.
The Minister of Education did not disclose in advance the number of establishments that had to close their doors due to the multiplication of cases, but it is also rising sharply. Friday, November 19, 28 schools were affected by such a situation, against 20 just before the school holidays and only 5 schools and a college the week of October 15.
An incidence rate that jumps in primary school
While waiting to know the values for the current week, which risk being once again increasing, the Ministry of National Education had identified 10,962 cases of Covid-19 in students last Friday, a little more than three times the level measured before the All Saints holidays (3,620 cases the week of October 22).
Less likely to develop serious forms than their elders, those under 20 are now slightly more contaminated than the rest of the population, according to data published by Public Health France. The incidence rate, that is to say the number of cases detected per 100,000 inhabitants, was established in this age group at nearly 199 Tuesday, against 191 for the general population.
However, this average hides a strong disparity, depending on the age groups. The incidence rate of Covid-19 thus stands at 340 in children aged 6 to 10, a period which corresponds to primary school. It is increasing very sharply, around 150% in one week.
Such a level, 80% higher than that of the general population, has been unprecedented for several months. To find a rate of 340 among 6-10 year olds, we must go back to the peak of the third wave, during last spring, notes BFMTV.
National Education staff three times more affected than before All Saints’ Day
Adults are not spared from contamination in schools. The number of teachers and members of National Education staff infected with Covid-19 has more than tripled between the figures of November 18 and those communicated before All Saints’ Day.
These figures could be on the rise by Friday, November 26, when the ministry will communicate its new burst of data. If the number of contaminated staff has increased in proportion to the number of closed classes, it should hover around 1,150 by midweek.