ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Schools will be reopened for all in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday, over three weeks earlier than expected, said the coronavirus crisis cell. "We decided to reopen schools for all grades on February 7, 2021," said Jutiar Adil, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), during a press conference on Wednesday, adding that this came after both the education and health ministers submitted their reports. Kurdistan Region students in the 12th grade returned to physical classes last month after months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. It had been previously decided that all grades would return to school on March 1. Education minister Alan Hamasaid said at the Wednesday presser that the decision to reopen schools to all would be reviewed on February 23. He noted that coronavirus safety measures would be observed at the schools and that students would attend classes three days a week rather than six days. UNICEF has criticized the KRG for reopening restaurants and other facets of public life, while keeping schools closed. “Within the context of Iraq and globally, we at UNICEF follow WHO guidance and according to the guidance there isn't any further evidence that transmission is any higher within the context of children going back to school,” Zeina Awad told Rudaw’s Hawar Jalaladin on Tuesday, referring to the World Health Organization (WHO). Schools were first closed in late February 2020, before coronavirus cases had been recorded in Iraq. They were reopened in mid-September for grade 12 students, and in October for students in grades one and two. The cell decided to close schools again on November 1, due to a spike in cases of the virus. The closure was extended to January 7 by the crisis cell at the beginning of December. As of Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region has recorded 106,287 coronavirus cases, including 100,046 recoveries and 3,477 deaths, since the start of the pandemic, according to the KRG health ministry.
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