2.25% of schools in Chile that opened in March registered coronavirus outbreaks

2.25% of kindergarten, primary and secondary education centers in Chile who began teaching last March presented outbreaks of coronavirus, which means having experienced two or more cases with evidence of an epidemiological link between them.

This was reported on Thursday by the Ministry of Education, which detailed that 7,917 schools opened their doors in March, representing 51% of the total of 15,380 educational establishments throughout the country.

The Secretary of State for Education also reported that as of March 28, the indicator of active cases for students who attended the establishment in hybrid or face-to-face modality remained stable between 9.2 and 12.2 cases per 100,000 individuals (currently Chile presents about 270 active cases per 100,000 inhabitants).

Chile inaugurated the school year on March 1, after the austral summer holidays, decreeing the opening of schools on a voluntary basis and under strict health security measures.

A group of students is seen during a class at the Patricio Mekis Polyvalent School during the first day of the start of the 2021 school year, in Santiago (Chile). (EFE / Alberto Valdés). (Alberto Valdés /)

Currently, the number of schools that remain open has dropped to 1,349, as the vast majority of the national territory is in quarantine after the worsening of the second wave and face-to-face classes are not allowed at that stage, the rest having to return to school. remote mode.

“Flexibility and the ability to adapt will be the key for this year to be able to fulfill the main mission that we all have, which is to ensure that all children and young people can continue learning.”, Said the Minister of Education, Raúl Figueroa, in the act in which he presented these data.

The director of UNESCO’s Regional Office of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, Claudia Uribe, who participated in the event online, said that the process of opening schools carried out in Chile “it has been a very important step and in the right direction”.

“Evidence has shown that the impact of the lack of presence has been very deep and very serious, in dimensions that have affected the development, well-being and even the very safety of children and adolescents. We have learned during this period that no screen can replace a teacher”, He added.

Chile is currently undergoing the onslaught of a second wave of COVID-19 and this day added 8,195 new cases, the highest figure in the entire pandemic, while having an ICU bed occupancy rate above 95% and more than 83% of the population in quarantine for two weeks to treat to lower the contagions.

In parallel, it carries out a successful immunization process against covid-19, being one of the countries with the highest percentage of vaccinated population in the world and since last February it has inoculated 7.2 million people with one dose and two injections to about 4.3 million.