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- Ελληνικά
The Minister of Health, Mr Michael Hadjipandela, briefed the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Culture today, Monday 21 February, on issues related to the operation of schools and possible problems arising after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then made statements to representatives of the media.
Hajipandela said that from the very first moment, the Ministry of Health took the difficult decision to implement the test to stay measure in schools to give more than six thousand students per day the opportunity to go to school. The average positivity of contacts, he added, is much lower compared to case contacts in other industries and sectors of the economy. Hajipandela stressed that all problems are solved through proper communication and extended an invitation to all stakeholders such as guilds and educational organizations to meet for dialogue and resolution of issues.
In response to a reporter's question on whether cases in schools are on the rise, Hajipandela said that the Epidemiological Team's measurements show that cases in schools are down, stating that the contact positivity rate is 1.13%. In numbers, he added, of the 6,420 test to stay exams conducted every day, only 63 are positive, concluding that the numbers speak for themselves whether the test to stay helps keep schools open or not.
Referring to the Ministry of Health's meeting with the OAS, Hajipandela said that the Ministry of Health will inform the OAS Board of Directors of its recommendations regarding the abuses. The responsible and competent body to take decisions is the OAI Board of Directors, he added, and it will depend on the Board of Directors whether these recommendations will be listened to and implemented.
On the relaxation of measures, the Health Minister said that he hopes today's step is the first step for more relaxations, but that in order to go to the second step of relaxations, citizens must implement the measures and these protocols decided by the experts. In conclusion, he hoped that the Ministry of Health will be in a position in the coming weeks to announce further relaxations provided that personal protection measures are respected.
(AF)
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