Schools will welcome kids back but control conditions apply

Schools and colleges across China are reopening or are in the process of doing so, as the novel coronavirus epidemic has been largely under control for several days now.

Students, who were attending online classes so far, are looking forward to returning to the classroom to be with their classmates and friends again. Parents, who have been forced to stay indoors with their children, are looking forward with bated breath to the schools reopening.

It is good to see Chinese people’s lives returning to normal after more than two months of upheaval. Junior and senior middle school students are particularly eager to return to school for last-lap preparations before the exams.

And the reopening of schools indicates that China’s fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak has registered an initial victory.

However, we should not let the guard down yet, as imported infections are still being reported and asymptomatic cases occurring more frequently now.

Should we relax epidemic prevention and control measures now, there is no saying the novel coronavirus will not make a comeback and undo all that has been achieved in the fight to contain the outbreak. After all, once schools and colleges reopen, there will be unavoidable crowding in the classrooms and dormitories, increasing infection risk.

So we should implement stricter epidemic prevention and control measures at schools. That’s why authorities have issued a detailed regulation on novel coronavirus prevention and control measures on campuses. All the schools have to abide by the rules, such as ensuring disinfection and ventilation on the campuses while teachers, students and non-teaching school staff have to maintain social distancing.

The fight against the novel coronavirus is a long-term one, one requiring establishment of a joint epidemic prevention and control mechanism involving education authorities, schools, disease control institutions and medical organizations to prevent infections. Many local authorities and schools have made such arrangements to safeguard students’ health and security.