site.btaEducation Minister: No Full Closure of Schools Envisaged, Only Single Classes Will Be Quarantined

October 20 (BTA) - Education Minister Krassimir Valchev on Tuesday said that no full closure of schools is envisaged and only single classes will be quarantined. He was approached by journalists about measures to be taken in response to the growing number of COVID-19 infections in the country.

When threshold values are reached in red-coded areas measures will be enforced locally. This may mean a quarantine for several classes or a whole school.

The Education Ministry is monitoring the situation across the country, said Valchev. Several regions are on the verge of turing red, but more restrictive measures won't be enforced and the existing ones are in place.

Since the start of the school year, 289 teachers and 286 pupils at schools and kindergartens have been infected with coronavirus. This means that the proportion is ten times higher among teachers compared with pupils, said Valchev. Pupils and kindergarten children number 900,000 and teachers - 90,000, which supports data that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus. Currently 8 per 1,000 students and teachers are under quarantine and 99.2 per cent of students have in-person classes.

Valchev said that for now no schools in Sofia will be closed but this may change.

In red-coded zones, parent conferences and the sessions of the public councils with schools will be held via video conference. Elsewhere the measure will be optional. Long trips in red-coded areas will be banned but daily visits to cultural and tourist landmarks will be allowed, said the Education Minister. RI/PP


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