Primary schoolchildren will not be required to wear face masks despite calls from some health experts to do so in light of rising Covid-19 case numbers.
As The Irish Times reports, Department of Education reopening guidance sent to all schools on Wednesday evening states that mandatory face mask rules in these settings are challenging and may cause undue stress for very young children.
As a result, it says they are not recommended at primary level or in pre-schools. However, they are advised at second level unless there is a good reason not to do so.
This guidance is based on a review conducted by public health experts at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
By contrast, academics who are part of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group say primary schoolchildren should wear masks given that high case numbers are concentrated among unvaccinated younger people.
The zero-Covid group says children will be at a higher risk to the virus than ever before when they begin return to classrooms over the coming weeks.
Filtration systems
Dr Gabriel Scally, a public health expert and member of the group, said other jurisdictions such as the US were recommending face masks for younger children. There was no reason why this could not happen here if there was an organised effort to supply schools with them, he said.
A webinar organised by the group on Wednesday heard calls for high-quality masks for teachers and pupils across all schools along with medical-grade air filtration systems and increasing social distancing requirements.
These steps were needed, the group said, because schools are set to reopen at a time when case numbers are high combined with comparatively light restrictions.
Physicist and pandemic expert Prof Yaneer Bar-Yam told the webinar that latest figures in Israel show children are now the main drivers of Covid-19 cases. And these have jumped from 10 cases a day to between 8,000-9,000 in the space of a few months.
In response, he said education authorities are considering postponing the reopening of school by a month from September until October.
Orla Hegarty, an architect and assistant professor at UCD, said ventilation of schools was crucial and welcomed the planned introduction of carbon dioxide monitors to classrooms.
