In Shenzhen, students trickle back to class

Students in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, are scheduled to return to their classrooms in turns, after more than a month of online schooling brought by the city's recent COVID-19 outbreak, according to sources with the local educational authorities.

Senior high school students in the 10th and 11th grades will return to campuses for face-to-face learning on Friday, while the ninth-grade students and senior university students will go back next week, according to Chen Qiuming, director of the Shenzhen municipal education bureau.

Students below the ninth grade, including pupils in kindergarten, are scheduled to return to campuses based on the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the city's various districts, Chen said.

Students in their final year of senior high school have been put under closed management since their return to schools earlier in late February.

As of Wednesday, Shenzhen essentially achieved dynamic zero-COVID status for six consecutive days, after the city's recent wave of the pandemic, according to Lin Hancheng, an official with the Shenzhen health commission.

"Students and teaching staff will be tested every day in the first week after their return," Lin said.

According to Lin, strict prevention and control measures will be further implemented across the city as it faces a high risk of imported COVID-19.

Travelers are required to provide a negative nucleic acid test result issued within 72 hours and a green health code to leave Shenzhen via train or plane, according to a circular issued by the city's COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters on Tuesday.

Residents are also required to present a 72-hour negative test result to use public transportation in the city.

Shenzhen's passenger turnover by rail, air, road and sea dropped by 74 percent year-on-year to 521,600 passenger trips during the Qingming Festival holiday (April 3-5). The city's railway network handled 448,200 passenger trips, down 69 percent year-on-year.