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Mexican Students Can Resume In-Person Classes In January In States Where COVID-19 Spread Is Low

Students across Mexico have been out of the classroom for most of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the country’s education secretary says in-person classes are starting up again in January for states with low levels of coronavirus spread.

Since August, school has been at home for most Mexican students, with classes broadcast on TV.

Starting in January, though, Education Secretary Esteban Moctezuma Barragan says Mexican schools can start reopening — but only in states designated as “green” on a federal coronavirus risk scale.

"And let something be very clear, the return to in-person will be when the traffic light is on green," he said Wednesday.

As of this week, only three of Mexico’s 32 states would qualify to go back to in-person classes — those are Campeche, Chiapas and Veracruz.

Neighboring Sonora is currently considered orange, or high risk, according to federal authorities, as cases continue to rise.

Kendal Blust was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2018 to 2023.