The distribution among schools of 8,000 portable air purifiers with Hepa filters, capable of eliminating the viral load that can concentrate in the environment, is not enough to guarantee safety in the opinion of the Csif union, which yesterday called for a further step to be taken by the Ministry of Education in terms of providing these devices.
For the organization it is necessary that all classrooms in the system (about 47,000) have such a device, after considering that the announcement “is totally insufficient, in addition to admitting that since the beginning of the course classes are being held in unsuitable environments”. He referred to the fact that the equipment is especially suitable for classes where natural ventilation is not guaranteed, the main recommendation for air renewal.
The union also pointed out that education planning for the winter “should not be based on students coming in with blankets.” It should be remembered that the protocol recommends the use of warm clothing and that the purifiers can be used in any unit if bad weather prevents the opening of windows.
Csif also demanded the installation of CO2 detectors – which help to know if the renovation is correct. and the purchase of Fpp2 masks for all teachers, avoiding that the supply depends on the centres or on the individuals themselves.
On the other hand, the Ministry reported yesterday that the number of confined classrooms during the past week, the twelfth of the course, amounted to 542, which is a further decline from the latest data. This is the second consecutive time after the peak of 628 classes between 9 and 13 November.
The last balance implies that between the 23rd and 27th of last month only 1.2% of the groups supported with public funds were affected by some contagion from students or teachers. In terms of centres with at least one unit in quarantine, there were 331, 17.9% of the total (1,845). Thus, the incidence no longer reaches one in five schools, as has been the case throughout November.
To make the calculation, the Regional Ministry takes into account the classes that must be isolated after a positive result during the reference week (186 out of 121 schools) and those in which the quarantine decreed in the previous days had not yet ended (356 out of 210 schools). In addition, there are another 243 classrooms (out of 142 schools) that have completed their isolation period. By province, In Alicante there are 106 schools that total 164 confined groups, Castellón has 36 schools with 55 affected classes and Valencia has 189 centers that add another 323 classrooms in this situation.
