Coronavirus: Greens official slams Test and Stay measure

The Test and Stay scheme to be introduced in schools as of Monday to allow close contacts to stay in lessons will only create more problems, deputy leader of the Green Party Efi Xanthou said on Sunday.

The move will allow close contacts to stay in school as long as they test negative on their way into school for six days after being named as a contact. The move does not allow them to move around freely in the afternoon though.

For the last two weeks schools have already seen problems, Xanthou said, with the outbreak of Covid causing teachers and students to be absent.

“The new measures is an experiment and clearly puts in danger not only the teachers but the wider public since chains will emerge from the school units.

“For the umpteenth time during this unprecedented pandemic, we see the government succumbing to pressure from employers who do not want their employees to stay home to look after their children when they are in close contact. The ministers of education and health treat schools as mere childcare facilities,” she said.

She accused the ministers of increasing the chances of further infections rather than taking the same protective measures as the rest of society is subject to.

“The implementation of different measures for schools, without taking into account the protection of teachers and students, can only be perceived as an experiment of the government to create herd immunity. They just don’t have the guts to admit it publicly”.