Spain is getting ready to have children back in classrooms. The government is making masks compulsory for kids over the age of six.
According to a Reuters report, Spain is registering the highest prevalence of the coronavirus in western Europe and diagnosing thousands of new cases every day. The virus rebounded quite quickly after Spain came out of a stringent lockdown at the end of June. As many as 3,594 new infections were reported on Wednesday and 83,000 in the last two weeks.
Education Minister Isabel Celaa said, “It is mandatory to go to class. For anyone who is afraid, I must say that we have been working since day one for a safe environment, acknowledging there was no place with “zero risks”.
Parents are scared to send their children to school, but authorities are taking a hard stance by making school obligatory for children between ages 6-16 and parents could be punished with three to six months in jail for not sending their children o school, especially if their children are attending high school or college. Parents have been organising protests as they fear that children may contract the virus and spread it to other members of the family, even if the effects of the virus may not be severe on the children themselves.
The government is taking precautions like asking schools to follow restrictions like 1.5 metre distance between two people and making masks compulsory.
Parents are concerned that the federal government will not be able to offer proper safety for their children at schools and colleges.
