SHANGHAI: China’s financial hub Shanghai said on Weekend (Aug 14) it would reopen all of the schools including kindergartens, primary and center schools on Sep 1 after several weeks of COVID-19 closures.
The city will require all instructors and students to take nucleic acid testing for the coronavirus every single day before leaving campus, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission mentioned.
It also called for teachers and learners to carry out a 14-day “self-health management” inside the city ahead of the school reopening, the percentage said in a declaration.
Shanghai close all schools in mid-March before the city’s two-month lockdown to combat its most severe COVID-19 outbreak within April and May.
It allowed some high school and middle school students to return to classrooms in June while most from the rest continued house study for the rest of the semester.
The announcement on schools reopening provides 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 good cases and their close contacts to endure quarantine.
On Saturday, videos circulating on Chinese social media showed customers pushing past security protects and running from an IKEA shopping mall in central Shanghai in panic being an announcement blared more than its sound system stating the mall had been locked down because of COVID-19 contact tracing.
Reuters had not been able to independently verify the authenticity from the videos but IKEA customer service said upon Sunday the shopping mall was shut because of COVID-19 curbs. IKEA did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.