Education Minister Mila Carovska tried to present a rosy picture of the first few days of the school year, that began with in-person teaching despite the exceptionally high coronavirus infection rate across the country. On the first day, 14 classes had to be sent into isolation after pupils were diagnosed with the virus, unnerving the teachers and parents.

But Minister Carovska insisted that this is just 0.01 percent of all students, and that the pupils were not infected in school – which is obvious given that the infections were found on the first day.

Carovska did warn that, if the numbers continue to grow, the Ministry may order a hybrid model – dividing pupils in groups who would alternative between in-person and online classes – or switch back to fully online classes.