Spanish children over six to wear masks to school as cases rise
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Spanish schoolchildren aged six and over must wear masks to class, the government announced on Thursday, unveiling a plan to reopen schools just days before the start of the new academic year.
The health minister, Salvador Illa, said that, while closing down schools could become necessary if multiple cases of the virus were detected across different classrooms, that would be the last resort.
“It would have to be studied on a case by case basis. This is not black and white,” he said at a joint news conference with the ministers for education and regional policy.
Spain’s health ministry reported 3,594 new infections on Wednesday and has logged nearly 83,000 in the past two weeks. Nearly 29,000 people have died since the onset of the pandemic.
Asked whether concerned parents would have the right to keep their children at home, education minister Isabel Celaa said schools were safer than other places.
“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,” she said, acknowledging there was no place with “zero risk.”
Prior to the announcement, Spain’s 17 regions had prepared their own back-to-school plans, all featuring variations of mask wearing, hygiene measures and reduced class sizes.
