Wuhan Set To Open All Schools From Tuesday

By Rianna Lobo

31st August, 2020

(Source: Times of India NIE)

Despite being ground zero for the current COVID-19 pandemic, China’s Wuhan is set to open all schools and kindergartens from Tuesday, September 1st. This move has gotten different responses from different parts of the world, with the World Health Organisation constantly reminding us of the severity of the pandemic, whilst nations like the USA have begun to open up schools as well, regardless of the spike in cases and deaths due to the novel SARS-Cov-2 virus.

The city has reopened Wuhan University already, and has plans to shift back to online teaching in case of a spike in cases or its risk. Students have been advised to wear masks to and from school and avoid all forms of public transportation. Foreign students and teachers have not been allowed to return as of now. Schools are instructed not to hold any unnecessary mass gatherings and to report daily to health authorities. They have also been ordered to carry out drills and training sessions to help prepare for new outbreaks.

Almost 1.4 million students are expected to return to Wuhan, as the local government announced, with approximately 2,842 educational institutions opening for the fall semester. Wuhan has had a death toll of

3,869 due to COVID-19, which is around 80% of total Chinese lives lost to the pandemic. Wuhan’s lockdown was lifted in April and has been steadily returning to normal, with no local transmission of COVID-19 reported since May.

The COVID-19 pandemic for which the epicenter was Wuhan is still wreaking havoc all over the world, with over 26 million people being affected by the virus already and the numbers keep on rising. The entire world is in an invisible race with each other in terms of trying to come up with an effective vaccine for the virus to put an end to the pandemic. As of now a few countries have developed vaccines but proper administration of the vaccines for the general populace has not begun yet. The pandemic is putting a strain to all the major economies as well, causing a large number of countries to fall into recession and the situation will keep worsening until a solution is implemented.

Sources: Reuters, Wion.

Edited by Sagarika Satapathy.