However, wearing a mask does not concern children under 18 years old. Others, students and adults in the school, are asked to wear a mask for at least five days when in contact with other people once symptoms subside and to keep their distance. Vulnerable people (over 65 years old, chronic illness, immune disorder, pregnant) are recommended to wear a mask in busy places.
Some teachers did not wait for the circular to put the mask back on. “It’s about protecting students, certain barrier gestures have remained reflexes since Covid”confides a primary school principal. “The flu epidemic is raging, we have classes with half the students absent.”
For some parents, making their children wear a mask is out of the question: “For now, it’s home school!”
If management is surprised that minors are exempt from wearing masks, they are not advocating for this to change either. In any case, they point out that these are recommendations. “During Covid, it was very complicated to act as a policeman. We are not going to do it for the flu but the prevention advisor will write an email with all the recommendations to send to the teachers.”comments Fabienne Svaldi, director of the Institut Sainte-Marie in Châtelet.
