Erfurt (dpa/th) - From Monday, no more corona tests will be offered at Thuringian schools. The Corona regulation of the Thuringian Ministry of Education expires on Friday and should not be extended, a spokesman said on Wednesday in Erfurt. It stipulated that the schools should offer the children a voluntary test once a week.
The corona test obligation was dropped at the beginning of May. It has also been a long time since masks have to be worn. Pupils who are particularly at risk can still be exempted from lessons in individual cases from Monday.
Education Minister Helmut Holter (left) emphasized that it was not yet clear whether autumn would bring new corona measures. "We will keep a close eye on the situation. The measures are ready to be drawn in line with other societal steps if necessary." Currently, however, the country's hands are legally tied in many respects.
According to a statement by his ministry, Thuringia has spent almost 100 million euros on tests in schools and kindergartens since 2020. Around 14 million self-tests have been carried out in schools since April 2021, around 45,000 of which were positive.
With a view to the two years of the pandemic in schools, kindergartens or youth facilities, Holter said: "We all sometimes went to our limits and often went beyond them." The price of the restrictions for children and young people and families was high. That fills him with humility. "The balance between health protection and education was not always easy to find," he summed up. "But all in all, we mostly found them or found them again quickly."
