Groehling: Schools to Reopen as of January 10

Bratislava, January 4 (TASR) – Education Minister Branislav Groehling (SaS) reported on Tuesday that pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools will reopen on Monday, January 10.

According to the minister, schools will once again observe the so-called school COVID-19 traffic light as of Monday, meaning that just as previously, they won’t be closed across the board. In the event of a positively tested pupil, the class in question can be isolated based on a decision by the headteacher. However, the decision to close an entire school in the event of an adverse situation can only be made by regional hygienists, for example, if a school has a significant number of classes in quarantine or a high number of infected individuals.

Exempt from quarantine are fully vaccinated individuals and those who have recovered from COVID-19 according to decrees of the Public Health Office. This also applies to school pupils, who will be able to continue full-time education after vaccination or upon recovering from the disease.

The Education Ministry reported that wearing masks will be made mandatory in schools, albeit not for pre-schoolers or a number of other individuals, such as special-needs pupils.

In addition, pupils will have an opportunity to have themselves tested for COVID-19, as the Education Ministry has distributed more than three million tests for this purpose.