University students across China back in classrooms with COVID-19 prevention measures in place

Universities across multiple Chinese provinces and cities have resumed on-site classes, where students were thrilled to meet their classmates and teachers in person for the new semester, while COVID-19 prevention measures such as disinfection and ventilation were put in place.

Many universities in Beijing started their new semester on Monday, while universities in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province began their new semesters over the weekend, media reported. The new semester begins with a simplified procedure and no need to show nucleic acid testing results.

Students at Beihang University, China Agricultural University, and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications can return simply by filing an application and entering the campus by scanning their student ID cards or using facial recognition.

Classes from this semester will also be on-site. "Students will have a deeper and more vivid understanding when they go into the laboratory to do experiments by themselves," said Ye Hongling, a professor at Beijing University of Technology.

The regular COVID-19 prevention measures haven't been discarded. Students are required to monitor their health before returning to school, and public venues across the campus will be disinfected and ventilated.

The topic of COVID-19 prevention on campus drew attention on Monday with news that some students in East China's Hangzhou had fever and at least three schools suspended their classes.

Hangzhou disease control authorities on Monday responded, assuring the public that the students were all infected for the first time, which is a normal phenomenon and does not represent the beginning of a new wave of the epidemic.

China has stepped out of this current wave of COVID-19, with infections, severe cases and deaths showing downward trends and hospitals across the nation resuming normal operations.

But sporadic cases persist, especially on campus where students gather and are more susceptible to the virus, an expert from the China CDC, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times.

"COVID-19's impact on our lives has not totally disappeared. Individuals should remain cautious and take protective measures," said Zeng Guang, former chief epidemiologist at the China CDC.

According to the China CDC, overall infections on February 16 nationwide stood at 10,720, with the positive test rate reduced to 1.1 percent.

Since February, daily new infections across the Chinese mainland have stayed above 5,000 cases, according to the China CDC data.

China will continue to monitor new variants and fluctuations of infection rates, and will adjust its responses based on new situations, Zeng told the Global Times.