Mask is no longer compulsory for Buenos Aires students

BUENOS AIRES (AP) - The use of the mask ceased to be mandatory on Monday at all levels of schools in the City of Buenos Aires in the context of the fall in COVID-19 infections and the advance of the vaccination plan.

The 65% decrease in new daily cases compared to February 21, when classes began in many schools in the capital, led the authorities to decide to make masks optional in schools in order to improve the links between students and their teachers.

The decision was also influenced by the progress of the vaccination plan. Currently, 95% of the inhabitants of the city have at least one dose of some vaccine, 92% applied the second dose and 65% received the booster dose.

The easing of the use of the mask is for now applied to students, while the same measure will be contemplated progressively for teaching staff.

The mask was not compulsory for children in preschool and the first cycle of primary school (from first to third grade, inclusive), in order to promote learning at a key stage of reading comprehension. Until the implementation of this last change, all students in the fourth grade of primary school and older had to use it in the classroom.

In most parts of the country, the mask continues to be compulsory in both primary and secondary schools. The Ministry of Health frees up each educational jurisdiction to make the decisions it deems most appropriate in this regard.

Infections have declined in Argentina since the end of January after the South American country suffered a third wave for a couple of months caused by the omicron variant.

In Argentina, more than nine million people have been infected and more than 127,400 have died since the new coronavirus hit in March 2020. Some 40.5 million have received one dose of some vaccine and 36.8 million two doses from a population of about 45 million inhabitants. Those immunized with additional or booster vaccines number more than 18 million.