ATHENS – Nearly a month after letting high school senior students return to class, Greece is planning to reopen all schools on May 10, in the face of a warning it could spark more cases of COVID-19.

“If we let the virus spread uncontrolled, it will do great harm,” Dr. George Pavlakis, senior investigator at the human retrovirus section of the American Center for Cancer Research of the National Cancer Institute, told SKAI TV.

“That would not be the right recipe in view of the summer season,” he said about the New Democracy government opening the country on May 14 to tourists with full vaccination or proof of a negative Coronavirus test.

Pavlakis said the outbreak of a new strain of COVID-19 would bring a “fourth wave” of infections and had recommended against allowing travel during Easter which was then restricted because of rising cases.

After students are back in class, the school year will likely be extended into the summer although many schools are not air conditioned and the weather can be brutally hot, although year end exams are being scrapped, said Kathimerini.

Under the plan, the extension of the school year will be until June 11 for all grades of high school and June 25 for primary levels while university entrance exams will start on June 14 or 15, the paper said in its report.