Children keep their distance at Korshøjskolen in Randers after reopening on Wednesday
COPENHAGEN, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools across Denmark, as the government becomes the first in Europe to relax coronavirus restrictions on education.
However classes are only resuming in about half of Denmark’s municipalities and in about 35 percent of Copenhagen’s schools, as other have requested more time to adjust to health protocols still in place.
All are expected to reopen by April 20.
In the centre of the capital Copenhagen, some 220 pupils up to the second grade arrived at the Norrebro Park Skole, welcomed by their teachers who waved Danish flags. Children in the third and fourth grade will follow on Thursday.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made a surprise visit to Lykkebo Skole in Valby outside Copenhagen to watch the event.
“I’m wildly impressed,” she told the TV2 news broadcaster. “The children are very happy to see their classmates again.”
Frederiksen said that she understood that the extra precautions around the reopening were “a hassle” for both parents and children. She later wrote about her visit on her Facebook page.
Denmark was among the first countries in Europe to impose a lockdown, with schools closed on March 12.
Infection rates have been low but critics warn the strategy is risky.
“We’re all a bit nervous and we’ll have to ensure that we stick to hygiene rules,” Elisa Rimpler of the BUPL, the Danish Union of Early Childhood and Youth Educators, said.
“We have a lot of washing hands during the day. We don’t have masks and we have to keep a good distance from each other so that’s a very difficult task.”
Denmark’s move came as European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen set out a roadmap on Wednesday for a gradual lifting of restrictions across the 27-state bloc, but made clear it was not a signal to act immediately.
She set out key conditions involving a significant decrease in the spread of Covid-19, capacity in the health system, surveillance and monitoring.
A donors’ conference will take place online for governments and organisations to pledge money in search of a vaccine, von der Leyen added.
As of Tuesday, Denmark had 6,691 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 299 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
