Students of all levels, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, as well as vaccinated teachers, will be provided with five (5) free self-tests from pharmacies from Wednesday, January 5 until Saturday, January 8, for the first two weeks after the reopening of the schools, ie from January 10 to January 21, 2022, ANA reports.
On Tuesday, Education Minister Niki Kerameus and Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced that schools will reopen normally on Monday (Jan. 10) following Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
At a briefing, Kerameus said that updated protocols would ensure tighter checks at schools. “Nothing can replace the in-person operation of our schools. It is for the emotional and psychological development of our children, therefore it is important that they operate in their natural space, with their classmates and teachers,” the Education Minister said.
New health measures include: a) an extra self-test for the first week of classes (Jan. 10-15), or three self-tests for the week instead of two, provided by pharmacies without charge, b) Vaccinated students and teachers must also do two self-tests that week, instead of one, because of the high infection rates to those fully vaccinated as well, and c) in cases of an infection, the entire classroom will need to be tested, not just those sitting near the infected person.
In the last case, unvaccinated students will be obliged to test every day of the week (five days), with 2 rapid tests and 3 self-tests, the latter provided free by pharmacies. The same holds true for unvaccinated teachers, who will also do 2 rapid tests and 3 self-tests, the latter free of charge.
Speaking on the coronavirus developments, Health Minister Plevris noted that the coronavirus Omicron variant is now dominant, taking over Delta and that the government has reached an agreement with Greek private clinics that will offer at least 10%-15% of their plain beds for hospitalization of Covid infections.
In addition, he said a new Ministerial Decision to be published will allow a positive rapid test as adequate proof of infection for leave from work, instead of requiring a follow up with a PCR test.
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