With Plastic Shields Fitted On Desks, School In Netherlands Gets Ready To Reopen After Lockdown
In the Netherlands, some schools have installed plastic shields around students¡¯ desks and disinfectant gel dispensers at the doorways as part of post lockdown preparation.
The Dutch government is all set to ease their coronavirus containment measures, allowing primary school children to go back to school part-time starting May 11.
According to a Reuters report, staff in Springplank school in the Dutch city of Den Bosch, have installed plastic shields around students¡¯ desks and disinfectant gel dispensers at the doorways as part of post lockdown preparations.
Reuters
New infections in the Netherlands have been declining for weeks and the government announced a schedule to relax some of its lockdown measures on Wednesday, with elementary schools to reopen on May 11.
¡°Our teachers are not worried,¡± said Rascha van der Sluijs, the school¡¯s technical coordinator told Reuters. ¡°We have flexible screens that we bought so we can protect our teachers if students are coughing," she added.
Reuters
Many schools including the Springplank have remained open with skeleton staff for a handful of students whose parents work in essential sectors.
Most of these pupils whose parents work in sectors such as healthcare have been taking classes online.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, announced that primary schools would reopen in the Netherlands on 11 May. The country¡¯s infectious disease control institute found that the risk of infection from opening schools was ¡°manageable¡±, reports The Guardian.
Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, "To start, children in primary schools will attend school half of the time.
'For example, one day one half of the pupils, the other day the other half. The starting date for all schools and daycares is 11 May."
Reuters
Each district is setting its own policies for reopening, with many planning to accept students only on alternate days. At some schools, the teachers will wear medical masks. As of Friday, there have been 42,093 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Netherlands, with 5,359 deaths, according to data from the National Institute for Health. Of those, 1.3% of infections and one death were registered among people under 20 years old.
