TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The government of Shenzhen, China, has acknowledged that there are 27 students and teachers who tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus (COVID-19), just as schools are set to finally open on Monday (April 27).
Wu Bing (吳兵), deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, said on Tuesday (April 21) that there were 461 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the city, while there are 33 asymptomatic cases that are still under medical observation, reported hk.on.cc. He also revealed for the first time that 27 teachers and students had tested positive for the disease, including six teachers and 21 students.
Among the infected teachers, four have been released from the hospital, one is still undergoing hospital treatment, and the sixth was asymptomatic and was released from isolation. Of the students reported to be infected, 16 have been discharged from the hospital, and the remaining five are asymptomatic.
Of the asymptomatic students, four have been released from isolation, while one is still in a hospital isolation ward. Among the infected students, 10 of them are primary school students, seven are middle school students, and the remaining four are college students.
Wu Bing stressed that staff and students who returned from Hubei Province to Shenzhen after April 8 should implement self-health monitoring at home or in school for 14 days. He said that those with a green health QR code on their smartphones should undergo two nucleic acid tests in Hubei Province; if not, they need to receive a supplementary test in Shenzhen and an additional check after seven days, according to the report.
Those whose QR health code is not green will be subject to mandatory isolation and observation in a quarantine center for 14 days. They can only return to school after the nucleic acid test confirms that there is no infection and no abnormal condition, said Wu.
Wang Shuifa (王水發), deputy director of the Shenzhen Education Bureau, said that high schools will resume classes on April 27, reported HK Apple Daily. On May 11, local governments will arrange for other primary and secondary students to resume classes in different stages and groups depending on the situation with epidemic prevention and control in a given school.
He said that the resumption of kindergarten and special education schools will be determined separately. As for colleges and universities, graduating seniors will be able to resume classes on May 11, depending on conditions at the time.
After May 18, the rest of the students at colleges, universities, vocational colleges, technical colleges, and secondary vocational schools can resume class in stages and batches in a flexible manner, said Wang.
