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Covid- 19: Students in China’s virus centre Wuhan return to school
Senior school students in 121 institutions were back in front of chalk boards and digital displays for the first time since their city -- the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic -- shut down in January.
More than 57000 students from 121 high and vocational schools returned to campus on Wednesday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, ground-zero of the global Covid-19 pandemic, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year.
Wearing mandatory masks, students had their temperature checked before being allowed on campus.
All school campuses were disinfected several times before classes resumed today.
“Wearing uniforms and masks, students at Hubei Wuchang Experimental High School had their temperatures taken and hands disinfected before entering their classrooms while maintaining a one-metre distance from their classmates,” the official news agency, Xinhua said in a report on Wednesday.
According to Ai Jianhong, the school’s Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary, all students, teachers and staff had passed nucleic acid testing. “Meanwhile, four rounds of disinfection across the campus, including classrooms, dormitories, canteens and offices had been carried out,” the report said.
Wednesday’s back-to-school for senior sudents was the latest step in a gradual normalising of life Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan.
The city, where the coronavirus appeared late last year before spreading around the world, was locked down for 76 days and only reopened last month.
It had been sealed off from the outside world since January 23, barring anyone from entering or exiting the city without official approval until the lockdown was officially lifted on April 8.
The last Covid-19 patients were discharged from Wuhan late last month.
The number of patients being treated for Covid-19 had peaked on February 18 at 38020.
More than 42,000 medical staff from across the country were sent to the city and to Hubei province to help ease the burden on the local health care system, which had been quickly overwhelmed in the initial phase of the outbreak.
“With the joint efforts of Wuhan and the national medical aid given to Hubei province, all cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan were cleared as of April 26,” Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the national health commission (NHC) had said.
