London: School children returned to class on Monday in several parts of Europe, while the British government promised to rush the ventilation unit and enough Covid-19 test kits to school to ensure they could also be reopened this week even though there was an infection rate in England.
Middle school students in the UK will also be asked to wear face masks when they return to class after the Christmas holidays and they can also face the class join in the midst of the lack of staff.
PM Boris Johnson said mask guidance was intended to control viral transmission.
British education secretary Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News: “The priority is to remain open.” He said testing, ventilation and other steps imposed would “make a big difference to school this year”.
The highly transports Omicron variant has caused the new Kaseload everyday English to soar during Christmas and New Year, with 137,583 infections and 73 deaths were reported for England and Wales only on Sundays.
Throughout Europe, schools reopen or prepare new terms overshadowed by global pandemics.
Children returned to class on Monday in some parts of Germany, where patchwork testing and reporting the holiday period means that the infection rate is rather uncertain.
In Berlin, one of the states where the school was reopened, the minister of local education said daily testing for children would be carried out this week.
More than 12 million French children returned to school Monday, with new rules aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus.
French children from the age of 6 have been asked to wear face masks in the classroom since November.
If a child tests a positive, all the other children in the same class have to test the negative three times in the next four days to stay at school.
Italian schools are not scheduled to be reopened until next week, but local leaders will reflect on the possibility of delays given a surge in cases in Italy.
Dutch education Minister Arie Slob said Monday that elementary and secondary school children would be allowed to return to the classroom next Monday after a holiday extended to three weeks as part of locking.