[ti:Danish Mothers Rebel as Schools Reopen]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Denmark eased its coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday by reopening schools and day care centers.
[00:09.00]But thousands of parents kept their children at home
[00:13.36]because of concerns about a second wave of coronavirus infections.
[00:21.04]As the rate of new cases falls, the government's decision to reopen schools
[00:27.16]has led to a debate over balancing the economy and the safety of children.
[00:34.80]"I won't be sending my children off no matter what," said Sandra Andersen.
[00:41.44]She is the founder of a Facebook group called ‘My kid is not going to be a Guinea Pig.'
[00:50.04]It has more than 40,000 followers.
[00:55.00]Anderson is the mother of two girls, aged five and nine.
[01:02.40]"I think a lot of parents are thinking, ‘Why should my little child go outside first'," she said.
[01:11.24]The coronavirus has infected more than 6,600 people across the country.
[01:19.32]Three hundred of them have died as a result of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
[01:29.08]Denmark has told citizens to stay safe at home for the past month.
[01:36.64]The government also ordered stores, restaurants and movie theaters to close.
[01:45.00]On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen defended the decision to reopen schools.
[01:53.20]Frederiksen said she had acted on the advice of health officials.
[01:59.40]She also said reopening the schools would let parents return to work and "get the economy going again."
[02:09.28]Christian Wejse is a scientist at the department of infectious diseases at Aarhus University.
[02:17.48]Wejse said he understood people's worries "because we've spent a month trying to avoid contact."
[02:26.08]But he added that new infections would not be a problem for children
[02:31.32]because "few fall ill, and those who do won't get very sick."
[02:38.32]He told Danes to look at neighboring Sweden, which has kept schools open without a big rise in infections.
[02:48.64]Children, he added, do not seem to be much of a carrier of the infection.
[02:55.88]Teachers have been told to keep social distancing in place between children.
[03:03.44]Social or physical distancing means keeping space between yourself and other people.
[03:12.00]Thousands of Danish mothers have joined an online group called Momster.
[03:19.44]Its founder, Esme Emma Sutcu, said most mothers do not believe government officials have things under control.
[03:30.32]She said, "Suddenly, these moms feel like they just have to throw their kids to the frontline
[03:37.56]and I think their reaction is: ‘Don't mess with our kids'."
[03:43.48]Nonne Behrsin Hansen is a mother of two children, aged two and four.
[03:49.96]She will not send her children back to school, she said,
[03:53.80]adding the conditions officials are setting up now are "even worse."
[04:00.56]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM