SHANGHAI: China’s financial hub Shanghai said it would reopen all schools including kindergartens, primary and middle schools on Sept 1 after months of Covid-19 closures.
The city will require all teachers and students to take nucleic acid tests for the coronavirus every day before leaving campus, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission said.
It also called for teachers and students to carry out a 14-day “self health management” within the city ahead of the school reopening, the commission said in a statement.
Shanghai shut all schools in mid-March before the city’s two-month lockdown to combat its worst Covid-19 outbreak in April and May.
It allowed some students of high school and middle school to return to classrooms in June while most of the rest continued home study for the remainder of the semester.
The announcement on schools reopening brings great relief to many residents but fears about Covid-19 lockdowns continue to persist, as China vows to stick to its dynamic zero policy which requires all positive cases and their close contacts to undergo quarantine.
On Saturday, videos on Chinese social media showed customers pushing past security guards and running out of an IKEA mall in central Shanghai as an announcement blared over its sound system saying the mall was being locked.
Shanghai has extended free testing until the end of September in a bid to keep the virus in check. — Reuters
