Armenian schools reopened on Monday, two weeks after the start of an autumn holiday that coincided with a spike in coronavirus cases and deaths.

As part of its efforts to contain the latest wave of diseases, the Armenian government extended the one-week break later in October. For the first time since October 2020, primary, secondary, and high schools were effectively closed.

Despite clearly failing to reduce the rate of coronavirus infection, the administration this week chose to abandon remote learning and instead bring students back to school.

On November 2, the Armenian Ministry of Health announced a total of 62 deaths from COVID-19, a new high. On Monday, the official number of coronavirus-related deaths in the country of around 3 million people reached 8,037.

The principal of Yerevan's Secondary School No. 197, Almast Avetisian, praised the government's decision. In the weeks leading up to the two-week holiday, she said, many of her students were afflicted with the coronavirus or seasonal flu.