Romania's representative to the World Health Organization, Social Democrat MP Alexandru Rafila said on Tuesday that the bogey had been raised in the past that opening schools would result in higher numbers of COVID-19 infections, and advised a "real prioritization of the activities that need to be kept open" in the context of the pandemic, according to AGERPRES.
"Unfortunately, public health measures, public health recommendations have been very often used for a political agenda and this wasn't a very good idea, because it created confusion, at least among the population," Rafila told the online debate 'COVID testing in Romania, one year since the onset of the pandemic' organized by media outlet DC News.
Rafila argued that according to surveys, in-person school activities don't have a significant effect on the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
"Regarding schools, this bogey has been tossed around, that the opening of schools would lead to a rise in the number of cases and so on, despite very solid studies that showed that opening schools does not significantly influence the evolution of the epidemic," he said.
The MP underscored that the decision to close schools did not consider the effects of this move on the students' mental health.
"I don't think that Romania will further stay completely protected from the wave of infection that roams the European Union. We'll see what happens in March - April. But I hope that we will be able to make a real prioritization of the activities that must be kept open and that have a favorable impact on people's health, because otherwise we will continue to stand out from other countries with measures that have nothing to do with public life, but with other considerations I don't want to comment on," Rafila cautioned.
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