Update: Hanoi students not returning to school on March 2

No set reopening date for Hanoi schools was decided at the capital’s Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control’s meeting on Friday, Dan Tri reports.

“We basically have good control over the outbreak in the city right now,” said Hoang Duc Hanh, deputy director of Hanoi’s Department of Health. “However, considering Hanoi’s metropolitan characteristics, there are still risks of community transmission in the near future. This is normal and anticipated.”

Previously on Feb. 22, Hanoi’s Department of Education and Training proposed a return for students on Mar. 2, which they hope possibly will be the 14th day of no new community cases in the city. Friday evening marks day 11.

District officials at the meeting also said they had performed the necessary measures for reopening next week. However, the People’s Committee of Hanoi continues to await for further instructions from the Ministry of Education and Training, according to deputy chairman Chu Xuan Dung. 

Hanoi has closed schools since Feb. 1 in light of its first Covid-19 cases in 2021. Since then, 35 new cases have been registered in the city so far, with the national number of cases at 834.

Worldwide, over 113 million people have been infected with the virus so far, including almost 2.5 million deaths. There are currently about 1 million new patients every day.