ΑΤΗΕΝS — Despite worries they could spread COVID-19, Greece’s high schools and middle schools in most regions reopened even as the New Democracy government toughened a second lockdown aimed at controlling the pandemic.

“Our priority is opening our schools, but we are always vigilant about your health and the wider impact on public health,” Education Minister Niki Kerameus said while visiting a middle school in the northern Athens suburb of Nea Ionia.

Students had been given lessons remotely, online with computers, for some 2 ½ months after another lockdown began on Nov. 7, 2020 but only middle schools opened in the prefecture of Attica which includes Athens.

That was due to continuing high cases of the virus, Kerameus saying that health measures must be followed, especially wearing masks and staying safe social distances, which can be problematic in crowded schools and hallways.

Kerameus also called on teachers and students over 16 to sign up for free Coronavirus testing available via edu.testing.gov.gr. Vaccines so far have been limited to the elderly, people with multiple or underlying conditions and some politicians who went to the front of the line with priority.