COVID-19: Shanghai to reopen all schools from September 1

After months of Covid lockdown, Shanghai on Sunday (August 14), announced that all schools, including kindergartens, and primary and middle schools, will reopen from September 1. The city will mandate that all teachers and students undergo daily Covid nucleic acid tests before leaving the campus.

The Shanghai Municipal Education Commission stated that the city will also mandate 14-day self-health management inside the city prior to the schools' reopening. Shanghai had closed all schools in mid-March.

Many locals are relieved by the news that schools will reopen, but the concerns about Covid continue to exist as China continues to stick to its dynamic zero policy.

Shanghai allowed the majority of the students to continue their home studies for the duration of the semester. It also permitted certain middle school and high school students to return to their classes.

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China's most populous city, Shanghai reported five new Covid cases on Saturday; 2,467 domestically transmitted cases were recorded nationwide.

Earlier, videos on social media went viral and showed panicked shoppers shoving past security officers and fleeing from the mall after a Covid contact tracing announcement was made. IKEA later said that the mall was shut at that time.

The city has extended both the free testing period and the weekly Covid test requirement until the end of September.

China’s most affected location is currently the southern province of Hainan, where 494 symptomatic cases and 846 asymptomatic cases were reported on Saturday. Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan when visiting the island reportedly pushed Hainan to quickly reach zero instances at the community level.

(With inputs from agencies)

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