According to Marc Cloos, the petitioners did not lament schools reopening per se, rather, they called for more clarity, specifically in March when confusion and fear still reigned.
Cloos was also of the opinion that insufficient knowledge and information circulated by both the authorities and WHO, particularly concerning the viability of masks, contributed to the petition's popularity.
The petition criticised the decision not to make masks mandatory, and demanded information regarding infection rates within schools be more clear and more transparent. Suggestions surrounding class size were taken into account and as such, plans to reduce the number of pupils to a class will be implemented in September.
In terms of keeping everyone up to date with infection rates, this is not such an easy task. The schools themselves need to inform the Ministry of Education of any new infections; and there are currently 30 "active" infections in primary schools, and 30 in secondary schools. 27 classes have thus far been quarantined. However the Ministry does not yet know whether the quarantined students have, in fact, tested positively for Covid-19, or indeed whether the positive cases lie at two, three, or 50, which makes it difficult to make any definitive statements.
What is certain, however, is that if it turns out that schools are at the origin of a new wave, they will be closed immediately.
