Lessons put online amid virus surge

Outbreak leads to 146 local COVID-19 infections, 158 asymptomatic cases

Measures to minimize disruptions to schooling have been rolled out in Qingdao, Shandong province, after a COVID-19 outbreak hit a local middle school late last week, resulting in the infection of teachers and students.

In 12 hours to noon Monday, Laixi, a county-level city under Qingdao's jurisdiction, recorded 10 more confirmed cases and 43 asymptomatic carriers.

By noon, 146 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases had been confirmed, as well as 158 asymptomatic ones, due to an outbreak at the No 7 Middle School in Laixi since Friday. Most of those infected are students at the school.

All the patients are in good condition and are being treated with an antiviral remedy that combines traditional Chinese and western medicine, Sui Ruwen, vice-mayor of Qingdao, told a news conference on Monday morning, adding that psychological counseling has been offered to ease patients' anxieties.

He said that all teaching by primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in Laixi must be conducted online from Monday to April 1.

He said schools in other parts of Qingdao could continue to have lessons on their campuses, "but access to schools and kindergartens will be examined seriously".

The news conference was told students from Laixi No 7 Middle School are currently isolated in hotels for further medical observation and are receiving lessons online.

Laixi Vice-Mayor Sun Shoubin said computers and other online facilities have been offered to the students to help them have lessons with their teachers.

"Prominent teachers across the city have been mobilized to design teaching plans and give online courses," Sun said.

Music and fine arts lessons as well as indoor sports have been arranged and epidemic prevention and control knowledge is also being provided, he added.

The outbreak in Laixi was detected on Friday night, when the local health authority confirmed three students were infected. Subsequent mass nucleic acid testing in Laixi and other tracing actions discovered a number of infections.

Officials and experts said previously that the cases involved the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, which caused cluster infections at the school and probably went through a longer period of hidden transmission.

There have been more reports of asymptomatic cases since Sunday night. Jiang Fachun, deputy director of the city's disease control and prevention center, said Omicron tends to be more infectious but with light clinical symptoms and in some cases no symptoms at all.

Jiang said that a large number of people have been vaccinated and have strong immunity. Even though some of them have been infected, symptoms do not appear, adding that vaccination is still the most effective and economical way to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Advanced screening efforts also helped find infections at an early stage, when clinical symptoms were not yet displayed, he added.

Laixi launched its second round of mass nucleic acid testing early Monday, the news conference was told.

The city of Laixi is about 100 kilometers from downtown Qingdao.

Separately, Qingdao's Huangdao district reported two new confirmed COVID-19 cases and two asymptomatic ones in the 12 hours to noon Monday.