Schools taking action to prevent flu and other respiratory illness

Schools are taking action to prevent flu and other epidemic diseases as the new semester began during the peak season for respiratory infectious diseases.

At Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School in Huangpu District, teachers have received training on observing students’ health conditions and how to deal with other emergencies, according to Wu Rongjin, the school principal.

She said teachers will check students’ physical state every day and refer any pupil who appears to be sick to doctors at the school.

The school has strengthened disinfection measures as a precaution, she added.

“Besides sterilizing the whole campus every weekend, including scrubbing students’ tables and chairs with disinfectant, we will also use ultraviolet disinfection machine to eliminate any potential pernicious influence every day in classrooms where students have been found sick,” she said.

Messages are also sent to parents via WeChat to inform them of symptoms of the epidemic diseases and tips for prevention, and recommending them to take their children to hospital if they feel uncomfortable.

Similar measures are also present at Luwan Middle School. Its school doctors will be at the school gate to observe students’ physical state in the morning and head teachers will seek information from parents of students on sick leave about their illnesses.

“If we find students suffering from epidemic diseases, we will take action accordingly, such as disinfection in classrooms and putting the affected students in quarantine,” said Zhang Fangfang, director of the school affairs office.

Winter and spring are high seasons for epidemic diseases such as flu, chicken pox, mumps, meningitis and tuberculosis to occur. 

The Ministry of Education also issued a notice over the weekend that asks educational authorities across the country to cooperate with local health departments to prevent and control epidemic diseases.

The ministry also asked schools to check students in the morning and monitor those on sick leave in a bid to deal with diseases as early as possible.

It also said that schools in areas with rising incidence of respiratory infectious diseases could reduce or even stop large-scale indoor group activities. Schools should ensure students have at least one hour of exercises to improve their physique, the ministry added.