French schools have recorded over 70 COVID-19 cases within a week after reopening.
This was disclosed on Monday May 18, 2020, by the French Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Following the government’s lockdown exit plan, about 40,000 primary schools and kindergartens were reopened in the country’s regions with low COVID-19 numbers.
Moreover, secondary schools are scheduled to resume operations on Monday, while high schools are to remain closed until June.
“Seventy coronavirus cases have been detected in the 40,000 schools that have reopened since May 11 and received 1.4 million school children across the country,” Blanquer said.
In Mayenne, Finistere, Cantal, Haute-Garonne, Indre-et-Loire, Herault and Nice, about 50 schools where the new cases were recorded, have been closed down again.
According to Blanquer, nearly 70 per cent of primary school pupils are continuing to learn remotely.
Nevertheless, Blanquer disclosed that the main goal remains that every child resumes contact with the school.
He also stated that safety measures are being put in place as secondary schools reopen in France on Monday.
He noted that educational institutions in “red zone’’ regions, would continue to wait until at least the end of May before knowing the date of their possible resumption.
As of Monday, France has detected a total of 179,693 COVID-19 cases, the sixth-highest number in the world, with the death toll at 28,111.
