Since preschools reopened on Sept. 9, a total of 33 preschoolers and 109 staff members have tested positive for Covid-19. Right now, 650 preschoolers and 107 staff members are in quarantine after virus exposure, according to Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska. Yesterday, she said 482 preschoolers and 77 staff members were isolating.
The reason behind such great numbers of people in quarantine was that after one teacher had tested positive, at least 15 children and one co-worker were ordered to isolate, Shahpaska said.
She added that the situation in preschools is “under control” and “stable, based on the fact that there are 11,000 children in preschools, of whom some 650 are in isolation.”
“We’re monitoring the situation closely,” Shahpaska told reporters after signing a preschool reconstruction grant agreement with Gostivar Mayor Arben Taravari.
In Gostivar, three preschool employees and one child have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.
“If citizens, school and preschool staff follow protocols,” Mayor Taravari said, “there won’t be a large number of infected people.”
According to the Gostivar Mayor, all schoolchildren should go to school in person.
“I think all schools should have started in their full capacity but held shorter classes for all students in person, because if they followed the protocols, I’m optimistic there wouldn’t be any enormous or large consequences,” Taravari said.
