Cyprus swaps student quarantine with 5 days of virus tests

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ health minister says the nation is changing its compulsory quarantine rules for school children in an effort to keep pupils in school amid surging coronavirus infections. Under the new system, schoolkids who were in close contact with classmates who test positive will no longer face compulsory quarantine. Instead, they must either undergo a rapid or a self-test for five consecutive days while continuing to attend school — so long as they test negative. Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela says that the month-long effort starting next week will apply to primary and secondary students regardless if they’ve been vaccinated or not.