Amsterdam primary school closes over coronavirus

Public primary school De Ster in Gein in Amsterdam will be closed on Thursday and Friday. An employee of the primary school tested positive for the coronavirus. Pupils must stay home while the other employees all get tested, director Romina Ferrari informed parents in an email, AT5 reports.

Ferrari hopes that the school can reopen again on Monday. Employees must stay home while they wait for the results of their tests, as per the RIVM guidelines. Which means that there will be no one at school to tend to the pupils.

"It is a very unpleasant situation, especially for the pupils and teachers," Harry Dobbelaar of the Zonova Foundation, which the school belongs to, told AT5. He is in contact with the GGD and said that the health service assured him that all employees will get their results by Saturday or Sunday. It involves around eight employees, he said. "We expect the school to open again on Monday. On Sunday we will inform the parents about this. We of course hope that the other employees will test negative."

Dobbelaar added that if teachers had priority at the coronavirus test locations, the school could have reopened by Friday. "It would be great if teachers were added to the group of crucial professions."