As a new semester begins at Nakazato Elementary School in Tokyo’s Setagaya district, students sing the school song. But on Wednesday they sat and listened. The principal decided not to perform the opening rite in the auditorium, but to remain at her place of work and to transmit the rite to the classrooms.
In Nakazato and many other schools across Japan, the task ahead is proving daunting: They are reopening even as the capital and 20 other prefectures remain under a state of emergency and infections are rising. Some opt for online-only learning; Others stagger opening hours to restrict the number of students coming to school and check their fitness upon arrival. In Nakazato they split the categories in two. Half attend the categories in person, while the other part remain at home and study online. Every day, teams replace places.
The number of coronavirus cases in Japan since the start of the pandemic recently surpassed 1. 5 million. More than half a million of them occurred in August alone.
Dr. Kasai Masashi of Hyogo Prefectural Children’s Hospital in Kobe says infection patterns are also changing. He says more and more children become inflamed at school and then transmit the virus to their parents at home. In the past, he says, it was the other way.
In the week leading up to Tuesday, the number of other people under the age of 20 who contracted COVID-19 rose to 30,000, about 2. 6 times more than a month earlier. This increase means that this age organization now represents more than 20 percent of all cases.
The government is studying a series of measures to keep schools open. The authorities will send around 800,000 coronavirus test kits to kindergartens, schools and number one colleges, basically for teachers and staff. They called on local governments and universities to facilitate an immediate vaccine rollout for faculty and staff.
They also established criteria for deciding when to close an elegance, send an entire elegance home, or close an entire school.
Wakita Takaji, who heads a Health Ministry panel, told reporters that it is vital for teachers to adhere to the rules on prevention measures and get vaccinated if possible.
He said it’s still unlikely that young people will be the number one vector of COVID-19, as is the case with influenza, but notes that many cases of infections have been reported at top schools and student clubs during the summer. Infection among young people is higher than in the past,” he says. “That’s why we want to be more vigilant. “