The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday issued guidelines for suspension of classes should cases of COVID-19 be confirmed on campus.
Schools from kindergartens to senior-high are scheduled to reopen on Tuesday next week, after the start of classes following the winter break was delayed by two weeks due to concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
Universities are expected to begin their second semester of the academic year on or after Tuesday.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
According to the ministry’s guidelines, a class would be suspended in kindergartens through senior-highs if one student or teacher is confirmed by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to have the virus.
If two or more students or teachers at a school are confirmed to have the virus, the school must suspend all classes.
If one-third of schools in a township or district have been forced to shut due to the virus, the remaining schools must close as well, the guidelines state.
Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times
If one university student or teacher is infected, all courses taken by that student or taught by the instructor would be suspended, while in the event of two or more confirmed cases, the university must close its campus, the ministry said.
Class suspensions would last 14 days, it said, adding that the guidelines could be subject to change.
In addition, all public events held by a school should be suspended if there is a confirmed case on campus, the ministry said.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) told reporters that guidelines left questions about how close or far apart the first and second cases of COVID-19 at a school would have to be to warrant a school-wide closure and the ministry should clarify the issue.
Otherwise, there could be “mistakes in judgement,” Huang said.
The Taipei City Government has set a 14-day time frame, meaning that a school would close if two cases are confirmed within 14 days of each other, she said.
Taipei Department of Education Director Tseng Tsan-chin (曾燦金) said the 14-day time frame was based on COVID-19’s 14-day incubation period, but the department would consult with the CECC.
Additional reporting by Tsai Ya-hua
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