More than 9,200 classes are closed in France due to the COvid-19 epidemic, the highest level since spring 2021.
The number of classes closed due to the Covid-19 epidemic exploded this week to 9,202, the highest level since spring 2021, the Ministry of National Education announced Thursday.
This is more than three times higher than the previous figure, dating from December 16, before the Christmas holidays, which was 2,970 closed classes. Last April, before the schools were closed for several weeks, the number of closed classes had risen to more than 11,000 (11,272 classes on April 2). It then came down again (to 5110 at the end of May). In total, France has 527,200 classes.
In detail, according to a statement from the Ministry of Education, “to date, there are 28 closed school structures (20 schools, 6 colleges and 2 high schools)”.
Regarding contamination, the ministry lists 47,453 declared confirmed cases of students (against 50,052 on December 16) and 5,631 declared confirmed cases of staff (against 2,599 on December 16).
These figures are communicated at the end of a meeting which took place Thursday afternoon between the ministry and the trade unions.
55 million surgical masks ordered
The start of the school year has been under tension since Monday with the Omicron variant, which raises concerns about a month of January very disturbed by the risks of Covid contamination, class closures and non-replaced teacher absences.
The ministry announced to the unions having “ordered 55 million surgical masks to equip the staff of schools and educational establishments, with the first deliveries from mid-January”. This follows the words of Prime Minister Jean Castex who spoke Thursday morning on BFMTV about the supply of masks to teachers by the end of January.
In addition, teachers will not be obliged to conduct face-to-face and distance training. “The face-to-face / distance teaching conditions will be specified taking into account the variety of situations, without imposing two forms of parallel teaching on teachers, but making it possible to ensure the link with absent students by reactivating all of the devices used to ensure pedagogical continuity, “writes the ministry.
The reception of the children of caregivers, when the class or establishment of their child is closed, concerns “all personnel of health establishments” but also more generally doctors, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory assistants, etc.
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