CORONA: The three-week safety phase in schools ends today

Spread the love

Read Time:1 Minute, 15 Second

Friday marks the end of the security phase at schools in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. However, testing will continue.

School started again in eastern Austria on Sept. 6 with a three-week safety phase. Students are tested three times a week and masks are mandatory outside the classroom.

This safety phase ends on Friday. Starting next Monday, the classification into three different risk levels will decide on measures such as compulsory testing or masks. According to ÖVP Education Minister Heinz Faßmann, however, the testing program for unvaccinated students will continue for the time being.

“Of course testing will continue, no question at all,” the ÖVP minister said Wednesday. “For six- to twelve-year-olds, nothing will change at all, they will continue to be tested three times a week. And for those over twelve, testing will be done on those who are unvaccinated.” Those who have been vaccinated can continue to test voluntarily.

He added that this regulation will also continue to apply in Burgenland, although the epidemiological risk in this province was most recently classified as low by the Corona Commission.

For now, 858 of the approximately 853,000 PCR tests conducted at schools across Austria on Monday and Tuesday have come back positive. That represents 0.1 percent of the tests.

Currently, 251 classes are closed (206 in Vienna, 23 in Lower Austria, seven each in Upper Austria and Salzburg, five in Carinthia, two in Tyrol and one in Vorarlberg).