It’s been a month since many countries across Europe made the decision to close schools to limit the spread of Covid-19, and now, Denmark has become the first European country to reopen them.
According to leading news agency AFP, 35 per cent of Copenhagen’s schools have begun to reopen, as well several kindergartens and primary schools across Denmark, which so far has 6,691 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 299 deaths.
Other schools are taking a few more days to ensure their adherence to health protocols, and it is expected that all will be reopened by Monday. New measures will include a distance of two metres between desks in classrooms and recesses being limited to small groups.
Meanwhile, middle and high schools are expected to reopen by 10th May.
As Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen describes this as the first phase in Denmark’s gradual reopening, a number of parents have been critical of the measure, believing the country to be treating their children as ‘guinea pigs’.