OELMEK: The decision to abolish self-restraint is dangerous

OELMEK with its announcement refers to the decision of the Council of Ministers for the abolition of the obligation of self-restraint of students who are close contacts, characterizing it as dangerous.

Such is the announcement

Yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers, without any prior consultation and information, which essentially provides for the abolition of the obligation of self-restraint of students / three who are close contacts of confirmed cases Covid-19, we consider that it is not only impossible to implement, but mainly dangerous for the health of students and teachers.

Impossible, because it is practically impossible "to conduct tests from mobile units that will visit schools" to students who are in close contact for 5 consecutive days, as stated in the decision of the Council of Ministers.

Dangerous, because in the midst of the largest outbreak of cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the obligation to self-limit close contacts is lifted, only for students and only for school space and time. On the contrary, yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers provides for the daily presence of close contacts in schools, a fact that we believe increases the likelihood of its spread covid-19 as well as the risk of its spread to students and teachers.

Many questions arise from yesterday's decision such as the following:

- Is the current phase of the pandemic outbreak the right time to relax the measures and protocol applied in schools, as decided yesterday?

- Why is the obligation of self-restraint lifted only for students who are in close contact and in fact only for school space and time? Close contacts with all other social and workplaces continue to pose a risk of transmission Covid-19, while students in schools do not?

What do the experts of the Advisory Scientific Committee have to say about the above? Does the measure announced yesterday for schools have their own approval? It is their suggestion and helps prevent its spread Covid-19;

As OELMEK, we have pointed out the problems that arose with the reopening of schools and the replacement of teachers, while we also warned about the problems that will arise with the conduct of the four-month exams due to the pandemic.

Despite the problems, we were patient given the critical situation that prevails and the objective difficulties that exist. However, we have made it clear that the safety and health of thousands of students, teachers and other school staff is paramount to us. In this regard, we reiterate that we are not going to make any discounts.

Therefore, we request the non-implementation of yesterday's decision from next Monday, as well as the immediate appointment of a meeting with the Minister of Health and the Scientific Advisory Committee, to discuss the protocols applied in schools and yesterday's decision.

In case our above requests are not listened to then our Organization will take the appropriate decisions, in consultation with the other Educational Organizations.