Editorial Ta Nea: Transcending the pandemic

The re-opening of schools today will not be easy for students, teachers, and parents.

Yet, it will be decisive for the educational process and family life and it may prove to be a success in confronting the overall challenge of the pandemic.

We have the weapons, the experience, and obviously the collective will.

The spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant creates new obstacles for humanity and, of course, for Greece, but it cannot be allowed to undermine the effort to return to normalcy.

With everyone exhibiting a high level of responsibility, we have a duty to get beyond the pandemic.

That requires seriousness and the critical contribution of the state and the education ministry, which must dovetail with the maturity of society.

Individual COVID-19 tests, prevention, and vigilance are just a few of the parameters of a challenge that must be met and won. The much-touted “last mile” must be managed successfully, despite the public’s obvious fatigue from the trials of the last two years.

Let us not forget that the re-opening of schools is a battle being waged by teachers, students, and families.

With good cooperation and mutual understanding and the assistance of the state one can create a ray of hope.

When individual responsibility is combined with central epidemiological tracing, and when the timely reporting of cases by families is linked to the health system, we can get out of the woods.