Masks no longer mandatory for Uruguayan schoolchildren

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of the National Administration of Primary Education of Uruguay, Robert Silva, announced that masks would no longer be mandatory in schools from 11 years of age.

Silva said that it is one of the components of a new sanitary protocol that will be applied from the beginning of classes on March 7, which also includes a reduction of quarantine days in cases of contagion in classrooms.

(Israeli journalist Avi Barak on masks and mask mandates)

But he clarified that teachers, employees, and other adults entering educational centers must use the face covering.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency System reported 2,468 new cases and 14 deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the country to 7,000 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

At present, 18,593 people are convalescing from the disease in Uruguay, where cases of the BA.2 lineage of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were recently detected.

To date, 53% of the adult population has received a third dose of the covid vaccine. A fourth booster is already planned for Uruguayans aged 50 years and older with comorbidities and those aged 70 years and older.

(Florida surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo on the efficacy of masks)