Denmark has reopened schools for younger children today after a month-long closure to combat coronavirus. It has become the first country in Europe to do so.
Nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools were officially closed on March 17 in a bid to curb COVID-19, although many had shut before then anyway.
However classes are only resuming in about half of municipalities and in about 35% of schools in Copenhagen as others want more time to adjust to health protocols.
The reorganised classrooms are designed to comply with strict new sanitary guidelines.
In early April the country’s centre-left government announced that schools would be reopened “on the condition that everyone keeps their distance and washes their hands.”
But while schools gradually reopen, bars, restaurants, hairdressing parlours, shopping centres and discos remain closed, and gatherings of more than 10 people are banned.
Schools are required to ensure that a distance of two metres, or six feet, is maintained between desks in classrooms, while recesse must be organised for small groups.
A headache for teachers is that they must ensure that pupils are never in groups of more than two while inside and five outside.
To adhere to guidelines, bottles with hand sanitiser are never far away to encourage students to clean their hands regularly.
Some parents have opposed the reopening of schools, citing health concerns. A petition dubbed “My child is not a guinea pig” has garnered some 18,000 signatures.
Middle and high school students will however continue remote classes and are only expected to return to classrooms on May 10.
According to the latest figures on Wednesday morning, Denmark had 6,876 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 299 deaths.
