We'll be ready for school reopening Jan 7 - De Micheli

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 31 - Transport Minister Paola De Micheli said Thursday the government would be ready for the scheduled reopening of Italian schools, with 50% of pupils present, on January 7.
    "We'll be ready for January 7," she said.
    De Micheli said that Italian schools "will restart with more safety with more public transport vehicles and a reorganization of timetables".
    Closing schools due to COVID-19 was "one of the hardest choices that the government faced", she said.
    Education Minister Lucia Azzolina voiced satisfaction saying there had been "excellent team work" behind the move to reopen schools.
    "In just a few days the talks led by the prefects enabled us to map out specific measures, area by area, and make them immediately operational.
    "We can be proud of this team work, in the exclusive interest of students." Italy's prefects on Thursday approved reopening at 50% capacity from January 7-15. (ANSA).