Hundreds of thousands of children in grades 70-XNUMX on Monday returned to primary schools all over Poland. While the slow return to normality is undoubtedly pleasing, it is worrying that schools will become disease centers. By being the respondent parent, you can minimize the risk of children getting infected with the coronavirus by teaching them to strictly follow the DDM principle – distance, disinfection, mask. According to Batist Medical specialists, the mere disinfection of hands and wearing a mask can reduce the risk of virus infection by as much as XNUMX percent!
“Although children are less likely to contract the coronavirus than adults, it does happen, and going back to school is undoubtedly a factor that carries such a risk. Therefore, it is especially the parents’ responsibility to protect their children from infection as much as possible. It is possible, and schools can be a safe place, provided that the DDM principle is followed, i.e. distance-disinfection-mask, to which it is also worth adding room ventilation, “said Leszek Garbacz, personal protective equipment specialist at Batist Medical Polska, a company specializing in in the production and distribution of medical devices that meet the high standards of the European Union.
The DDM principle is derived from the findings of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and is part of the set of guidelines for grades XNUMX-XNUMX of primary schools prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and the Chief Sanitary Inspector.
The most important of them are:
- only healthy people come to school – this applies to children, teachers, other school employees, as well as parents and guardians,
- absolute wearing of protective masks in all common spaces of the school – both by students, teachers, employees and guardians bringing / escorting their children,
- unlimited and easy access to disinfectants.
Maintaining social distancing by children will undoubtedly be very difficult. Parents, guardians and teachers play a very important role here, because it is their responsibility to explain to children how important it is not to hug their friends when they greet them and to keep their distance as often as possible, wear masks and take care of hand hygiene.
“Every school has a responsibility to provide disinfectants. But what if they are missing or it turns out that there are too few distributors? The best solution is to provide the child with an individual disinfectant in a small package with a capacity of 50-100 ml. It should be remembered that it should be a measure that is safe for children, and therefore registered in Poland and compliant with the standards of the European Union. Appropriate information should be placed on the packaging in the form of the statement “virucidal activity” or “compliant with standard EN14476”, or “active against enveloped viruses”. Such a measure must contain at least 70% alcohol and care and protective ingredients for the skin of the hands. It should not contain dyes, preservatives and fragrances that may cause an allergic reaction. ” – said Ireneusz Reszel, disinfectants specialist at Batist Medical Polska.
It is also important to instruct your child in the safe and correct use of the product. The gel, which prevents the product from spilling out, will be a facilitation. The child should also be aware that disinfection can only replace hand washing when it is impossible. Normally, it should only be a complement to it.
“Adequate disinfection and the right mask reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by 70 percent. Now that disposable masks are available everywhere, there is no excuse for not using them. Wearing masks by children is a protection not only for themselves, but also for teachers, parents and grandparents, ”said Leszek Garbacz, specialist in personal protective equipment at Batist Medical Polska.
There are masks in smaller sizes on the market, intended for children. They can also wear standard size masks – just shorten the bands. According to specialists, a slightly too large mask does not bother you at all, as long as it sticks to the face, and this can be corrected by adjusting the nasal brace.
“When a child does not want to wear a mask, let him decorate it. If you do this carefully, e.g. with non-toxic markers, it will in no way affect the properties of the mask. One should only remember that the disposable mask should be worn only once and replaced after a maximum of 8 hours and always when it gets wet, ”added Leszek Garbacz.
More information on how to protect yourself in a pandemic can be found at: https://chronmysie.batist.pl/