Covid-19, Education and Science, Estonia, Legislation

Mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kolvart and deputy mayor Vadim Belobrovtsev held a meeting with school managers in which it was decided that schools will continue implementing preventive measures -- dispersion of students and partial remote instruction -- for the first two weeks of the second term, spokespeople for the city government said.

The situation will subsequently be reassessed and if the infection rate is not exhibiting an upward trend, regular contact learning will resume.

Belobrovtsev noted that while the number of coronavirus infections was in slight decline for a while in Estonia, it has now once again began to rise. "People often travel with their family during the school holidays, both in Estonia and abroad, and more direct contact is maintained with friends, which is why the likelihood of coming into a contact with a virus carrier is higher. Specialists, too, deem the school break a risk factor in terms of the spread of the virus," he said.

"We reached an understanding together with school managers that preventive measures must continue through the first two weeks of the new term -- that means we will disperse students in the same way schools also did previously," Belobrovtsev noted. "During this time, possible infections will become apparent and schools can take rapid actions for preventing and curbing an outbreak, if needed."

With regard to partial distance learning, the city government recommends that no groups of students should be kept away from school for more than one week.

If the situation permits it, schools are prepared to fully switch to regular contact learning in two weeks.