President Iohannis says most schools will reopen on February 8

President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that most schools will reopen on February 8, adding that it is a return to the system that takes into account local developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The subject was whether or not we open schools for in-person learning, and I can tell you that we, who took part in the discussion, reached an extremely important conclusion unanimously. From the second semester, that is after the one-week school break in early February, February 8, when the second semester begins, most schools will reopen, obviously, given that the pandemic is going on much the same way as it has in recent weeks. That means most of schools will reopen, pupils return to school. It is practically a return to the decentralised system that takes into account local developments in the pandemic,” Iohannis told a news briefing at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

He explained that in a green area scenario all children go to school, in the yellow one just the kindergartens, 1st-4th, 8th and 12th grades, while in the red one, school children grades 5th to 8th and high school stay at home for a start, but kindergarten and primary classes continue on.

“This way, in the second semester, in the areas that fall into the so-called green scenario, with relatively few cases, all schools reopen physically, children go to school. In the areas that fall into the yellow scenario, that is areas where there are somewhat more cases of infection, things change in that children continue to go to school, more precisely to kindergarten and schools, kindergarten children, primary school children – 1st to 4th grades and children in finishing grades – 8th and 12th. If the area falls under the red scenario (…) kindergarten and primary school children will go to school in person for a while, but the others do not go to school. (…) When it comes to an infection rate over six, the area is quarantined and everyone stays at home; schools close, they go online,” said Iohannis.

He added that these things are becoming a reality as the pandemic is not getting worse, pointing out that a final decision will be made on February 2.

“It is very important to know that all these things will become a reality as long as the pandemic does not worsen seriously. We must follow the restrictions. And speaking of restrictions, the evaluation for schools is changing, but all other measures remain in force. Nothing changes except the assessment for schools. On February 2, before school starts, we will do a reassessment of the pandemic together and the final decision (…) will be made on February 2,” Iohannis pointed out.

Via Agerpres