Vietnam kids back at school after 3 months
Millions of schoolchildren in Vietnam returned to class yesterday after the country reported its 17th straight day of no domestically transmitted Covid19 infections.
The decision to reopen schools came after the country eased social distancing measures at the end of last month, with experts pointing to a decisive response involving mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing for its apparent success in containing the disease.
At a school here, secondary level students lined up to have their temperatures checked before filing into classrooms for the first time in more than three months.
“I am very happy and excited because it’s boring being at home,” said Pham Anh Kiet, 11.
“I feel safe when I wear a face mask and have my temperature checked. I am not afraid of being infected with the virus,” he added, before grabbing a classmate for a quick catch up.
Tran Dang Ngoc Anh, 12, said she had missed her friends and teachers and was happy to be back, despite being a little apprehensive about wearing “stuffy face masks in classrooms”.
There are around 22 million school-age children and university students across Vietnam. After being sent home in late January, some kids returned last week but others, including primary school and kindergarten pupils, would have to wait it out a further week.
Universities had begun opening one by one.
Vietnam had recorded just 271 virus cases and zero deaths, according to official tallies on Sunday.