Hanoi students to return to school next Tuesday amid tight medical control

Hanoi students are set to come back to school on March 2 after one-month break and online classes to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a dispatch issued by the municipal People’s Committee on February 27.

The date applies for students from kindergarten to high school levels, while colleges and centers for vocational training and continuing education will reopen a week later.

Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School in Hanoi wear masks in class and practices mild social distancing. Photo: Van Trong

University student schedules would be determined by the schools themselves, though the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control recommended that they should reopen on March 15 to ensure social distancing measures.

Relevant agencies have been asked to exert efforts in ensuring safety for students when they resume going to schools, and enforce strict measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

To ensure safety for students, this weekend, schools have disinfected their campuses and prepare materials for the epidemic prevention, in addition to having a clear approach to managing students.

Schools have also regularly disinfected areas, especially those being constantly touched, and vehicles used to carry students.

As on-site classes resume, parents need to take their children's body temperatures at home, prepare them masks and personal items so they would not have to share them with classmates to avoid infection, the municipal authority said.

Previously, Hanoi students started staying home on February 1, about a week earlier than the expected beginning of the Tet break due to a new wave of Covid-19 sweeping nationwide and new cases of locally-transmitted cases were reported in the city. After the one-week holiday, they continued to study online.

Hanoi had not detected any new Covid-19 infections for 12 consecutive days. In the coming days, the capital city will relax its social distancing measures to help resume normal activities, but will continuously control, inspect and strictly handle violations of pandemic preventive measures.