The country’s education minister has said there is a good chance that young children will return to in-person classes after the school winter break ends in the middle of this month.
Przemysław Czarnek told broadcaster TVP Info on Sunday that a final decision on resuming on-site education in grades 1 to 3 of elementary school would be announced during this week.
The decision depends on the course of the pandemic, specifically the daily number of new coronavirus infections, he said.
Around 165,000 teachers and school staff are interested in being tested for the coronavirus as part of a campaign that runs until Friday, Czarnek added.
After a brief period of being open to students, schools and universities throughout the country last fall switched to distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now killed over 30,000 people in Poland.
A two-week school winter break started across the country on January 4. It lasts until January 17.
Teachers are among priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination as the country rolls out its inoculation effort. Frontline healthcare workers are first in line for the shots.
Poland on Sunday reported 9,410 new coronavirus infections and 177 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases to 1,385,522 and fatalities to 31,189.
(gs)
Source: IAR
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