ATHENS – If cases of COVID-19 break out when Greek students return to classes Sept. 13, it won't necessarily mean that schools will be closed down or that there will be a return to online teaching.

The Education Ministry is putting together protocols on how schools will deal with the Coronavirus, with teachers, students and staff either having to be fully vaccinated or tested regularly to show they are not infected. 

Deputy Education Minister Zeta Makri told SKAI radio that a COVID-19 case will not result in the entire school or class shutting down, Makri said, without providing further details even as the Delta Variant has become the dominant strain of rising cases across Greece.

Makri said teachers must show a COVID-19 vaccination certificate, a certificate of recovery from the disease, or submit a negative molecular test result twice a week, but at their own expense in a bid to convince them to be inoculated.