Greece delays school reopening plans after Covid -19 infections rise

Greece on Friday postponed plans to reopen all high schools next month following a fresh rise in COVID-19 infections, saying schools in critical “red zones” would continue with distance learning.

Athens said last week it would let high schools reopen on Feb. 1 for the first time in more than two months as pressure on its public health system had eased in the last few weeks.

“High schools in red zones will continue to teach lessons from distance,” Deputy Education Minister Zeta Makri said in an interview with state TV ERT.

Parts of Northern Greece and West Attica are the regions suffering most from a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, which have doubled since the beginning of the week.

Civil Protection and Health Ministry experts will hold a press briefing later on Friday providing more details.

Greece has already taken its first steps at loosening a second lockdown imposed in November, reopening primary schools and kindergartens, retail shops and hair salons.

On Thursday, health authorities reported 716 new coronavirus cases and 18 deaths, bringing total infections to 154,796 since the first case was detected in February last year.