New Delhi: Once India starts reopening schools, it will be wise to start with the primary section ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said Tuesday. He pointed out children have a lower number of ace receptors to which virus attaches. So the children are much better at handling viral infections than adults. Balram Bhargava however, stressed before schools reopen it must be ensured that school teachers and other support staff members are vaccinated.
Bhargava was a press conference here. He said the ICMR’s latest national serosurvey has found that the seroprevalence among those aged six to nine was 57.2 per cent which is very similar to adults. Bhargav was asked about opening schools since Covid-19 cases have declined in many districts. He said children can handle viral infection much better than adults. Also it has been established that they have a lower number of ace receptors to which virus attaches.
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“In some countries, particularly the Scandinavian ones, they (authorities) did not shut down their primary schools during the first, second or third wave. Whatever (Covid) waves they had, their primary schools were always open,” Bhargava said.
“So, once India starts considering opening schools, it will be wise to begin with the primary schools. Also, we have to ensure that all support staff members, be it school bus drivers or teachers, are vaccinated,” Bhargava added.