Pupils should wear 'jumpers, jerseys and coats' in class to limit virus spread, expert suggests

Dr Gabriel Scally said schools should consider getting students to wear their coats in class to suppress spread of Covid-19. Picture: Ben Birchall

Public health expert Dr Gabriel Scally has said schools should consider keeping windows open and getting students to wear their coats in class to suppress spread of Covid-19.

Dr Scally also called on schools to request additional space in the form of temporary buildings, marquees or the use of nearby sporting facilities.

Funds should be made available to schools so they can ensure better ventilated facilities to make them even safer, he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Sarah McInerney show.

While he was concerned about the reopening of schools, Dr Scally said it was important for them to reopen. It was not fair for school children to be heavily penalised. In order for children to be safe, control of flare ups was needed, he added.

Time and resources to get schools ready was necessary not just for the sake of the students, but also for teachers and parents.

Dr Scally pointed out that when Ireland battled tuberculosis a lot of attention was paid to schools and that there had been outdoor schools. 

“Getting the air moving could be the best thing to do,” he said.

The number of cases in a local community should be the deciding factor if a school reopens, he said. If there were flare ups nearby then it would be necessary to decide if the schools should reopen.

Dr Gabriel Scally. Picture: PA Wire

When asked about the incident at the Berlin Bar in Dublin last weekend, Dr Scally said that such behaviour made it difficult for other people in that industry who were observing the restrictions. 

We just can’t have that. Alcohol and the virus really do not mix.

It was time for the Government to look at the issue of penalties for premises that break the restrictions. 

Dr Scally said pub owners needed to know “that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.” There should be managers in place to ensure such behaviour didn’t happen, he said.

The withdrawal of licences for premises that break the guidelines should be given “active consideration” he added.

At the end of the day it was about everyone being careful, he said. 

Employers had a responsibility to ensure their staff were safe, people living in close quarters should be supported to move somewhere else while sick pay should be available so no one had to fear coming forward in case they might lose income.

Dr Scally pointed out that the virus needed indoor facilities to spread, the more confined the space, the worse it would be, he warned. There was nothing wrong with children going to school wearing “jumpers, jerseys and coats” if it keeps them safe, he said.

Getting virus transmission down to zero remained an achievable directive, he said. “It will only work if we all do it together.” 

On the issue of foreign travel, Dr Scally urged everyone to stay in Ireland this year. He said that he was very disappointed at the lack of control at ferry ports and airports as it was foreign travel that had brought the virus “to these shores.” 

The chairman of Fáilte Ireland who had resigned had been “an honourable man” to do that he said.