In the third phase of the massive testing program in schools, which started on Monday with the reopening of secondary schools, more than 225 thousand people were tested, including students at this level of education.

In addition to the secondary schools, anti-Covid-19 tests were also carried out in schools of the 2nd and 3rd cycles in municipalities with more than 120 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days.

In total, the screening made it possible to identify 340 positive cases, equivalent to a positive rate of 0.15%, close to the 0.1% recorded in the previous phase.

For the Ministry of Education, the most recent result demonstrates “that students, too, undoubtedly contribute to the affirmation of schools as safe places”.

In the screening performed at the reopening of preschool and 1st cycle, the rate of positivity recorded had also been less than 0.1%, with 80 cases of infection among more than 82 thousand tests.

In a statement, the ministry adds that “in parallel to this massive testing in the school environment, regular public health tests are carried out, namely when detecting positive cases, seeking to identify and break transmission chains, inside and outside the school gates”.

With all teaching cycles already working in person, next week the rapid antigen tests made available by authorities will be carried out by teachers and non-teachers in schools from pre-school to secondary, and students from the 10th year in riskiest counties, with more than 120 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the last 14 days.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused at least 3,109,991 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 147 million cases of infection, according to a report made by the French agency AFP. In Portugal, 16,965 people died from 834,638 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.