As universities and colleges are to begin their new semesters tomorrow, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has ordered schools to follow four key preventive measures against COVID-19.
In a notification sent to schools on Wednesday, the ministry said that students’ temperatures should be checked, campuses disinfected and ventilation improved, while response to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases must be quick.
Unlike primary and secondary schools, college campuses are open to more students with varying class schedules, posing a great challenge to temperature monitoring, it said, advising schools to limit the number of entrances to campuses, dormitories and restaurants, and arrange personnel to work shifts monitoring temperatures at certain checkpoints.
Photo provided by the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
People should be asked to return home or visit a doctor when they develop a fever — 38°C when taken from the ear or 37.5°C when taken from the forehead — or when they have respiratory symptoms, the ministry said.
Students who are boarding and have unusual temperatures should stay in single rooms, and their school should report their condition, it added.
Given the nation’s diverse campus settings, universities have adopted different temperature measurement policies.
For example, National Taiwan University would be testing visitors’ temperatures at the entrances of each building or department, given that its campus is extensive; Soochow University plans to have four checkpoints for measuring temperatures; and Fu Jen Catholic University would be marking healthy people with a stamp on the back of their hands.
The ministry has also advised schools to disinfect frequently used items, such as doorknobs, buttons, electrical appliance switches, and classroom desks and chairs, in the morning and afternoon each day.
Schools should also avoid using air-conditioners, improve ventilation and keep indoor carbon dioxide concentration levels — a barometer for ventilation — to less than 1,000 parts per million, it said.
If faculty find confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, they should report to their schools’ security and health agencies as soon as possible and help with the disease investigation, it added.
The ministry also asked schools to prepare dormitory space for quarantine.
Meanwhile, nine universities with affiliated medical centers have been appointed as regional centers for disease control and consultation, the ministry said.
The nine schools are Fu Jen, Taipei Medical University, Chang Gung University and National Yang-Ming University in the north; Asia University and China Medical University in central Taiwan; National Cheng Kung University and Kaohsiung Medical University in the south; and Tzu Chi University in the east, it said.
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