Regular monitoring and early warning of the epidemic have been added to China’s National Health Commission’s requirements in epidemic prevention plan on campus as cases of cluster infections have recently emerged in a few schools across the country, exposing some weaknesses in epidemic prevention and control work.
A revised plan on the epidemic prevention and control on campus based on the common risks in epidemic prevention and control judged by experts was issued by the health authority and China’s Ministry of Education on Tuesday.
On the basis of further strengthening normalized epidemic prevention and control management, the plan added requirements on the normalized monitoring and warning on campus as well as detailed and completed emergency handling measures and health care requirements.
According to the plan, strict health monitoring measures including taking temperatures, absence tracking and registration, and regular nucleic acid testing among faculties and students will be carried out. In those areas where flare-ups occur, nucleic acid and antigen tests should be increased.
In response to the NHC’s plan, the education authority of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province has tightened the epidemic control in schools, requiring that at least 5 percent of school faculties and students have to take nucleic acid tests every week and the proportion and frequency can be increased according to the practical situation.
The local authority also requires that personnel at risk including security personnel, boarding school management employees, school canteen workers and sanitation workers have to take nucleic acid tests every week.
The NHC’s plan also requires to implement the management on the entrances, the faculty and the students and key venues. Besides, the hygiene of the environment and personal protection on campus are also stressed to prevent the spreading of the epidemic into schools.
Guizhou education authority has urged local schools to tighten control at the school gates and strengthen management on school employees who have to leave the campus.
In terms of the emergency response to the epidemic, the transformation from normalization to emergency mechanism should be completed immediately in case of a flare-up on campus.
The NHC also urged children above 3 years old to take vaccines, stressed psychological counseling for faculties and students and respond to their reasonable demands and concerns in a timely manner.
Health workers wearing personal protective equipment are seen while waiting for residents for nucleic acid tests in a compound on April 9, 2022. Photo: VCG
