Croatia ready to reopen schools in two weeks

Schools in Croatia will reopen on Sept. 7, Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs said on Monday.

The new school year will start as planned despite a recent sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases.

Croatia has seen a surge of COVID-19 infections in August, with 306 new cases registered on Saturday alone, an all-time high since the outbreak started here in late February. There have been 136 new infections in Croatia in the last 24 hours as of Monday afternoon, and 2,212 cases remain active, according to the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

The minister presented during a press conference instructions for the beginning of the school year.

Schools will have to follow measures that are already in force in every-day life, such as physical distancing, reduction of contacts between groups, and extra hygiene precautions.

In addition, it is necessary to organize classes so that students come into contact only with their peers from the class and as few teachers as possible. In order to reduce contact between students, the classes will not start at the same time and some schools will work in two shifts.