Time to open up schools in a staggered way, Indian kids have good immunity: AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria
It is time to reopen schools in India in a staggered way, said Dr Randeep Guleria. The AIIMS Director added that Indian children have developed good levels of immunity against Covid-19.
In Short
- AIIMS-WHO survey had found that sero-positivity rate was high among children
- Importance of schooling in overall development of a child should be looked at, Dr Guleria said
- Reopening of schools can be planned in places with positivity rates below 5 per cent: Dr Guleria
Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi says that the country should consider reopening schools in a "staggered way". Most schools in India have been shut since the first nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 was imposed in March of last year.
Classes are being conducted virtually ever since. While the central government did allow a phased reopening of schools last October, the decision was withdrawn soon after.
Speaking exclusively to India Today, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said, "I am a proponent of opening up schools in a staggered way, for districts that are seeing less virus circulation."
'PLAN IT RIGHT, EFFECTIVE SURVEILLANCE KEY'
"It [reopening of schools] can be planned for places having positivity rates below 5 per cent," Dr Guleria said.
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The renowned pulmonologist and member of India's Task Force on Covid-19 also said that schools can be immediately shut if surveillance hints at the spread of infection. But districts should explore the option of bringing children to schools on alternate days and plan other ways of staggered reopening, he added.
Dr Guleria went on to say, "The reason is not just a normal life for our kids, but also the importance of schooling in the overall development of a child should be looked at."
'SCHOOLS NEEDED FOR WHOLESOME DEVELOPMENT'
Director of AIIMS (New Delhi), Dr Randeep Guleria, also highlighted why children who have been deprived of online education should be sent to school now.
Even the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had said in a report in November of last year: "Covid-19 has reaffirmed the need to bridge the gaps in Internet access. The digital divide exists across borders, fields, and generations, impacting virtually every aspect of life."
"Within the digital realm, the pandemic has increased the digital divide — the uneven distribution of the access to and use of digital technologies, whether based on age, geographical or geopolitical factors, social factors, or economic factors," UNICEF said.
'KIDS HAVE GOOD LEVELS OF IMMUNITY'
Dr Randeep Guleria said children have had a good deal of exposure to the virus in India and that many of them have developed natural immunity.
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A survey by AIIMS and the WHO had found that SARS-CoV-2 sero-positivity rate among children was high and comparable to the adult population. Hence, it is unlikely that any future third wave of the prevailing Covid-19 variant would disproportionately affect children aged two years or older.
Following protocols such as masking, social distancing and proper ventilation can allow schools to reopen since prolonged closure has affected children adversely, Dr Guleria said.
VACCINE FOR KIDS
One of the country's leading medical experts, Dr Guleria said Covid-19 vaccines for children would be made available in India by September of this year. Preliminary data from Covaxin's clinical trials for children is encouraging, he added.
Bharat Biotech is testing India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine on children.
If the data submitted by the vaccine maker is accepted by regulators (DCGI), the approval for vaccines for children as young as 2 years would come through by September, Dr Randeep Guleria said.