Covid: Focus turns to unvaccinated children as Nphet to discuss masks in primary schools

Dr Ronan Glynn’s remarks on Wednesday that “schools are not as safe now as they were” backs up what many have believed for some time - the spread of the virus does not necessarily stop at the door of the junior infants classroom.

The risk of transmission within schools is said to remain “low”, and mercifully children have, in the vast majority of cases, not suffered serious illness as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The deputy chief medical officer’s comments on Newstalk reflect the impact of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and its high transmission rates as he explained schools are not as safe as they were when incidence of the virus is high in the community.

But now there is a renewed focus on the unvaccinated five- to 11-year-old age group.

Nphet to discuss requirement for primary schoolchildren to wear masks

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The latest figures show primary-school-aged children now have the highest Covid-19 incidence of any age group, with some 10,000 positive cases in the past fortnight.

In our lead today, Pat Leahy, Jack Horgan-Jones, Carl O'Brien and Paul Cullen report that a requirement for children in primary school to wear masks is expected to be discussed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) when it meets today.

Some members of the group believe such a move would help stem the rise in infections in younger children, though the Government does not intend to introduce any new restrictions this week. If Nphet makes a recommendation on the issue, it is likely to be considered by Government next week.

A report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre notes the infection rate for primary-school-aged children has been rising since mid-October, but the risk of transmission within a school still remains “low”.

Public health advisers have suggested to Government that much of the infection among children is coming from parents, rather than from in school.

Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency is expected to announce its recommendation on the use of the Pfizer vaccine in five- to 11-year-olds by the end of this week.

Any go-ahead would first have to be confirmed by Irish regulatory authorities before rollout here, and it is unlikely the vaccine could be administered to primary schoolchildren before the new year.

Coalition talks in Berlin

In the immediate aftermath of the elections in Germany Tánaiste Leo Varadkar paid tribute to outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel.

He said he found her to be a “very normal, down-to-earth person” and a “really strong ally”. He said that due to Germany’s federal system she had “a particular understanding that small states matter”.

This was important during Brexit as it alleviated a view by some in London that the “big countries could just meet some day and sort it out like would have been the case in the 18th or 19th century”.

Mr Varadkar said “that was never going to happen while she was there,” adding: “that was crucial, but I think that will actually carry through to any future German chancellor because of that system they understand so well.”

Two months on, the slow process of forming a new government in Berlin continues, but, as Derek Scally reports, the likely coalition moved one step closer to power yesterday after its future members agreed a programme for government. He has all the details on their priorities here.

After a final late-night negotiation push yesterday morning, chancellor hopeful Olaf Scholz and his centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) struck an agreement with the Green Party and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Last night Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan hailed the contribution of the German Greens in the process when she thanked them “for including support for the Good Friday Agreement in the coalition arrangement of the new Government there”.

The hope in Government Buildings is very much that Mr Scholz is as strong an ally on the Brexit front as his predecessor, Dr Merkel.

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And Miriam Lord has a lot of fun with Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan's campaign on the lotto – Blatherballs Bernard hits the jackpot.

Playbook

The Dáil starts at 9am with questions for Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee is up next at 10.30am.

Leaders’ Questions is at noon.

Government business includes statements on Mother and Baby homes in the evening.

A debate on Topical Issues starts at 7.40pm.

A Solidarity-People Before Profit Private Members’ Bill will be debated at 8.28pm.

Officials from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will be at the public accounts committee from 9.30am.

The committee on disability matters will hear from the line minister Anne Rabbitte and officials from the Department of Health at 9.45am.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will be at the committee on finance at 1.30pm to discuss the Finance (European Stability Mechanism and Single Resolution Fund) Bill 2021.