Updated manual for schools - no masks necessary

The Ministry of Education has sent an updated manual to schools, according to which they are to open on the 1st of September. It has modified the information about masks, which will not have to be worn widely in schools.

It will depend on the so-called traffic light method, which evaluates the regions according to the degree of risk of infection with covid-19 in individual districts. If there was orange in one of them, it means the second highest level of risk, masks would be ordered by the regional hygienist.

The original manual for schools, which the Minister of Education Robert Plaga (ANO) and the Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch (ANO) presented last Tuesday, assumed that masks would be mandatory in schools from the 1st of September. Vojtěch presented the details of wearing masks on Wednesday, but after criticism and negotiations with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) the next day, he decided on changes. From the 1st of September, people will have to cover the nose and mouth only in public transport, at offices and in medical and social facilities.

The fifteen-page manual contains, in addition to hygienic recommendations for schools, also instructions for school groups, canteens and boarding schools. It also includes a guideline and instructions for teachers in case distance learning is necessary. Some headmasters have criticized the manual for being delivered late and for being only an alibi for the Government for some recommendations are impossible to being put in practice.