Shanghai schools enlisted in virus-prevention fight

Education authorities in Shanghai have banned schools in the city from hosting large group activities and ask training organizations to suspend offline operations until a new coronavirus-related pneumonia epidemic is contained.

The Shanghai Education Commission asks all primary and secondary schools not to organize offline teaching or other activities and to cancel all campus activities during the winter vacation.

The commission is also asking all schools, including universities, nurseries and kindergartens, to set up emergency response plans to prevent the spread of infection.

The commission asks schools to educate both faculty and students on pneumonia prevention and to make this the first lesson of the new semester.

Schools must inform faculty and students not to go to crowded and poorly ventilated places, and especially not to visit key areas of disease control before the epidemic is over.

Schools are asked to ensure the health and security of students remaining on campus during vacation. Management of campuses, dorms and canteens should be enhanced. Outsiders should be restricted from entering campuses and staying in dorms. Buildings should be disinfected, and students and teachers should regularly have their temperatures checked.

Schools are also asked to learn where students and faculty have been during vacation, paying close attention to those who are from or have been to key infected areas.

Besides prevention during the vacation, schools also need to work out plans for the new semester to improve campus hygiene and prepare venues, staff and funds for epidemic prevention.

They are also asked to promptly report abnormalities to education and health authorities.