French education minister criticised for announcing COVID-19 measures from Ibiza trip

France's education minister is facing calls to quit after it was revealed that while on vacation in Ibiza, he issued a severe COVID-testing policy for schools just before the start of the January school year.

In a video interview with the Parisien newspaper on January 2, Jean-Michel Blanquer, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, disclosed the new testing and isolation guidelines, just hours before classes were to start following the holiday break.

Blanquer, who has enraged teachers with a series of protocol changes that sparked a huge protest last week, was speaking from the Spanish island resort of Ibiza, according to the daily, which included a photo of him in his office.

Thousands of classrooms were forced to close as a result of the new laws, and pupils and their parents stood in enormous queues outside pharmacies and labs for tests. 

The measures included increased testing for school-age children following a classmate testing positive, to avoid closing classes. 

According to data from the French health ministry, France reported a daily high of 464,769 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, exceeding the previous daily high of nearly 100,000 instances set last week.

According to Johns Hopkins University, 375 more people died, increasing the total death toll in the country to 128,629 people.  

(With inputs from agencies)