Romania’s Health Ministry publishes safety rules for reopening of schools in September

The Romanian Ministry of Health has published a draft ministerial order proposing a set of sanitary and protection measures to be taken in schools in the coronavirus pandemic context. The new school year is set to start on September 14 in Romania.

According to the document, classrooms should be rearranged to ensure a distance of at least one meter between the desks. Transparent separators will be installed in classrooms where the 1-meter distance can’t be ensured, Edupedu.ro reported.

Both the students and the staff will have to wear protective masks at school, and the contact between students from different classes will be limited. The document also proposes “firm cleaning and disinfection measures in the school” and “rigorous hand hygiene.”

“Schools will implement the general rules of this guide and adopt specific rules,” according to the document put up for public debate.

The document also proposes three scenarios for the reopening of schools in Romania, which will take into account “the general epidemiological situation, the regional specificities and the infrastructure and human resources of each school,” according to Edupedu.ro.

The authorities involved in the management of disease prevention will decide between Scenario 1 - the daily participation of all preschoolers and students in schools, in compliance with and application of all protection rules; Scenario 2 - the daily participation of all preschoolers and students in primary school and students in the 8th and 12th grades, and the partial return (by rotation of 1-2 weeks) of students from other middle and high school classes; or Scenario 3 - the participation of all preschoolers and students in online activities/lessons.

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