Chisinau students may be required to wear facial masks in classrooms if the number of COVID-19 cases increases, Chisinau deputy mayor Angela Cutasevici announced yesterday during the meeting of the Chisinau City Hall. 

Currently, only employees of educational institutions are required to wear masks, and students are urged to use them only when they can not keep their social distance.

"It is important to say that, depending on the epidemiological situation in the region,  wearing the facial mask can be considered," said Angela Cutasevici.

She also mentioned that the social distance of at least one and a half meters must be kept at schools while classrooms and equipment will be regularly disinfected.

Authorities warn that if the epidemiological situation worsens, the decision to reopen schools could be reviewed as well. In order to comply with the protection measures, 14 million lei was allocated from the municipal budget to buy masks, disinfect and other products needed to fight the pandemic.

Schools across Moldova were shut down in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.