By In Trieste
Prime minister Conte sent an encouraging message to all students and school staff across Italy on Sunday, September 13, a day before the official school reopening across country.
PM Conte went live on Facebook at noon on Sunday, the time was probably chosen strategically as traditionally Italian families gather for a big family lunch around that time.
Conte’s speech was encouraging and full of hope. Addressing the students, he asked them for “cooperation and understanding” during this “difficult, especially at the beginning, semester.”
More than half a million school employees, both teachers and non-teachers, have undergone serological testing in recent days, reports Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.
School employees who tested positive are not permitted to return to work until they register a negative test result. Students returning from an absence of three days or more are to present a doctor’s note certifying they have recovered, reports Italian news agency ANSA.
Italy’s coronavirus emergency commissioner Domenico Arcuri told Tg1 News that two million tests are currently being distributed to schools across the country, in addition to millions of masks, with a free mask to be given each day to every student, teacher and staff member.
