Pupils return to school amid corona restrictions, in hopes of eventual return to normal.

Record ID: 1630027

  • Title: Pupils return to school amid corona restrictions, in hopes of eventual return to normal.
  • Date: 2nd August 2021
  • Summary: ROTSTOCK, GERMANY (AUGUST 2, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PUPILS IN MASKS COMING TO CLASSROOM FOR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AFTER SUMMER HOLIDAYS VARIOUS OF PUPILS SITTING NEXT TO EACH OTHER AGAIN, WEARING MASKS TEACHER, INES GOTTWALD, WITH CORONA RULES ON BOARD IN BACKGROUND CORONA RULES IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PUPILS IN MASKS IN CLASS VARIOUS OF CORONA RULES BEING TALKED ABOUT IN CLASS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PUPIL, NEELE ROMMKE, SAYING: "It's really really nice to be able to see everyone again, we can have more contact again, more actually than in the holidays when you had to follow measures all the time in restaurants and so on. Here it feels different as we are all tested and can be close to each other again." (SOUNDBITE) (German) PUPIL, THEO SEMMLER, SAYING: "I think it's good (measures) especially as the Delta variant is on the march and lots of people have been on holiday. So I think we shouldn't relax all the rules too quickly, so I think it's good that we have a two week period where we wear masks and get tested." CORONA RULES ON BOARD (SOUNDBITE) (German) PUPIL, THEO SEMMLER, SAYING: "I'm 15 and have had my first vaccine, I will get my second one this week and I would really recommend it to everyone. I mean everyone has to make their own decision about what they would rather have: a corona infection or the vaccine side-effects but generally speaking i tolerated the vaccine really well." (SOUNDBITE) (German) TEACHER, INES GOTTWALD, SAYING: "So the pupils have to wear masks in the classroom and in the corridors, they have to stick to the areas they are allowed to be in, they can only use certain toilets. Different pupils use different entrances, the break area is also divided and they must also get tested twice a week." PUPILS IN CLASS SITTING CLOSE WEARING MASKS (SOUNDBITE) (German) TEACHER, INES GOTTWALD, SAYING: "I feel well prepared and we have done it all before at least, this quick testing at home, wearing masks, we have been doing this for months. And you maybe saw, that we collect all the results at the beginning and that is going well. It is a lot of paperwork and checking that everybody has everything but it's working. We also have to hand out tests but it's working." PUPILS IN LESSON VARIOUS OF PUPILS OUTSIDE
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2021 12:29
  • Keywords: Coronavirus school vaccination
  • Location: ROSTOCK, GERMANY
  • City: ROSTOCK, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EOL7YO7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Pupils in some German states returned to school on Monday (August 2) hoping for as close a return to normal as possible.
    Pupils and teachers have faced constantly changing restrictions and uncertainty since Germany declared the start of the pandemic in February 2020.
    For much of the year pupils have been forced into home-schooling or so called 'shift learning' where pupils could only attend school every other day or for half the day.
    Now schools are back in business, offering full-time lessons but with precautions in place.
    "It's really really nice to be able to see everyone again, we can have more contact again, more actually than in the holidays when you had to follow measures all the time in restaurants and so on. Here it feels different as we are all tested and can be close to each other again," says a relived Neele Rommke.
    Pupils will still have to wear masks in the classroom and in the corridors and spaces around the schools have been separated to limit contact. But, says one teacher at a school in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at least now they have all had some practise.
    "I feel well prepared and we have done it all before at least, this quick testing at home, wearing masks, we have been doing this for months. And you maybe saw, that we collect all the results at the beginning and that is going well. It is a lot of paperwork and checking that everybody has everything but it's working," says teacher Ines Gottwald.
    Some pupils have also returned to school vaccinated, while German states are deciding whether all children above 12 should be offered a vaccination.
    The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany on Monday (August 2) increased by 847 from the previous day to 3,772,109 data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll is at 91,660 the tally showed.
    (production: Martin Schlicht, Oliver Denzer, Tanya Wood)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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