BERLIN: On a continent still struggling with high Covid-19 rates, a small alpine country is trying something new to reopen its schools: requiring students to take tests twice a week before they can attend class.
The experiment could have valuable lessons for the United States, where many schools remain closed, mainly because it is occurring in a place with relatively high infection rates despite months of restrictions.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged elementary and high schools to reopen amid debate among parents, teachers and local governments about how they should operate during the pandemic.
In Europe, where some countries are reopening schools after winter closures, more governments are putting pressure on school tests as they try to balance a growing urgency to bring children back to classrooms with fears about new variants of highly infectious viruses.
Austria, which reopened schools this month after nearly three months, does so further than any other European country.