Teachers, students in 41 Berlin schools infected

At least 41 schools in Berlin have reported that students or teachers are infected with the coronavirus — not even two weeks after they reopened in the German capital.

The daily Berliner Zeitung published the numbers on Friday and the city’s senate for education confirmed them, reports The Associated Press.

Hundreds of students and teachers are in quarantine, the newspaper reported. Elementary schools, high schools and trade schools are all affected. There are 825 schools in Berlin. 

The reopening of schools and the risk of virus clusters building up there and spreading to families and further into communities has been a matter of great concern.

Berlin was one of the first places in Germany to reopen schools after summer holidays. Children are obliged to wear masks in hallways, during breaks, and when entering the classroom, but they can take them off once they sit down.

Some critics say the measures in Berlin are too relaxed and both students and teachers should wear masks. Such is the case in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous, where some 2.5 million students went back to school a couple of days after Berlin. 

Coronavirus cases in Germany have been going up again since late July, driven by returning vacationers and social events.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday there are too many different regulations in place across the country and “people simply don’t understand” why they’re allowed to do one thing in Berlin that may be banned in Bavaria.

On Friday, Germany’s disease control center registered 1,426 new cases.