Read ‘em：脱マスク浸透せず　「熱中症よりコロナの方が…」

As record-setting summer heat engulfs the Japanese archipelago, and the coronavirus pandemic continues to roll on, schools across the country are divided over one fundamental question: to mask or not to mask.

The education ministry has repeatedly asked that children remove masks during gym class and on their way to and from school to prevent heatstroke. But the guidance seems to have fallen on deaf ears even in areas where Japan’s rainy season is over and the worst heat of the year has set in. Schools are apparently afraid to ignore children’s and parents’ desire to keep face coverings on out of COVID-19 infection fears.

At around 2:30 p.m. on June 29 at the municipal Hiranishi Elementary School in Nagoya’s Nishi Ward, a female teacher was telling second graders on the playground before they headed home, “It’s so hot today that it’s dangerous to your lives. You need to take off your masks on your way home.”

That day, a heatstroke alert was issued for Aichi Prefecture for the first time this year, with the mercury hitting a high of 37.5 degrees Celsius in Nagoya. Even then, some children were seen passing through the school gate for home with their masks on. When a Mainichi Shimbun reporter asked why they were keeping their masks, one of them answered, “I’m scared of heatstroke, but I’m more scared of the coronavirus.”

Momono Kojima, a 23-year-old teacher at the school, told the Mainichi, “I’ve been telling children to remove their masks for at least two to three minutes when they come back inside from the hot weather, as long as they don’t talk to each other. I also encourage them to drink water during class.”

The education ministry on June 10 urged the local boards of education to provide thorough instruction to schools to make sure children remove masks during gym class and club activities, indoors or outdoors, and on their way to and from school. The ministry advises that children not talk in close proximity when maskless.

Although the ministry had sent out these rules in May, there were multiple cases of children being taken to hospital with heatstroke symptoms after exercising with their masks on. “We have no choice but to explain over and over to make this rule known to each board of education,” a ministry official said.

　新型コロナウイルス下の日本列島が記録的な暑さに見舞われるなか、学校現場が「脱マスク」を巡って揺れている。熱中症リスクが高まるとして、文部科学省は登下校時や体育の授業などでマスクを外すよう繰り返し求めているが、梅雨が明けた地域でも徹底されない。コロナの感染などを恐れ、着用を望む子どもや保護者の意向を無視することはできないからだ。

　名古屋市立比良西小学校（同市西区）では、29日午後2時半ごろ、下校前に校庭の一角に集まった2年生に、女性教諭が「きょうはとても暑いので命の危険があります。マスクを外して帰りましょう」と促した。

　この日は、愛知県に今年初めて「熱中症警戒アラート」が出され、市内の最高気温は37・5度に達した。それでもマスクを着けたまま校門を出る子どもの姿もあった。その一人に外さない理由を尋ねると「熱中症も怖いけど、コロナの方がもっと怖い」と答えた。

　1組担任の小島百乃教諭（23）は「暑い屋外から戻った時は、周囲と話さないという条件で2、3分はマスクを外すよう声がけしたり、授業中の水分補給を促したりしている」と話す。

　文部科学省は10日、各教育委員会などに、部活動の運動中や体育の授業では屋内外を問わずマスクを外し、登下校時なども着けないよう指導を徹底することを求めた。外す際は近距離の会話を控えるなど工夫する。5月も周知を図ったが、マスクを着けたまま運動し熱中症の症状で救急搬送される事例が相次いだため「各教委に浸透させるには繰り返し説明するしかない」（担当者）と改めて促した。