Serbian Education Minister Mladen Sarcevic said on Wednesday that 52 children and 20 adult school staff had tested positive for the coronavirus since the school year began.

He said that the fact that only 72 children and school staff had been infected out of a total of some 850,000 school children was a good thing. “Sixteen school children have been infected in Belgrade, including two in one elementary school. We have had cases in schools all over Serbia,” he told the pro-regime TV Pink. He said that 27 children had been infected in elementary schools and 25 in high schools.  

“School is the safest place at present,” the Education Minister said, adding that children who test positive will attend classes online. “Every day of school is a good day,” he said.