Students of Dich Vọng Secondary School in Hà Nội's Cầu Giấy District in biology class. Students in the city will be off school until at least March 22. — Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — Schools in localities across Việt Nam will extend closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hà Nội People’s Committee yesterday decided to extend school closures, rather than reopening next week.

Accordingly, high schools in the city will remain shut until March 22, while other schools including preschools, primary schools, secondary schools and vocational training centres will be shut until March 29.

During the school closures, managers and principals were asked to ensure the facilities and equipment are sterilised.

Schools were also asked to co-operate with students’ families to monitor their health as well as lessons at home.

Students in HCM City will be off until April 5 as per a decision by the city People’s Committee yesterday

The Hà Nội People's Committee recommended the Ministry of Education and Training to change the curriculum of this school year and postpone the national high school graduation exam depending on the development of COVID-19.

After Đồng Nai, Vĩnh Long, HCM City in the south, Hà Nội and Nam Định in the north, the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế would also offer televised lessons for students during school closures. The televised lessons for Grade 12 and Grade 9 students in the central province will start on March 16 and March 23, respectively.

Minister of Education and Training Phùng Xuân Nhạ yesterday decided to extend the school year until mid-July. The national high school graduation exam will take place from August 8 to August 11. In previous years, the examination was usually held in late June or early July.

The ministry has asked local education departments to promote internet and television-based teaching during the school closure.

Hà Nội National University of Education will offer free technical assistance for schools to launch online lessons. Detailed information about the assistance is available at olm.vn.

Bars, karaoke parlours closed 

Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung asked for sterilisation and closures for bars and karaoke venues in the city from now to the end of this month due to the development of COVID-19.

At a meeting on the city’s prevention and control work yesterday, Chung also asked hotels and residential accommodation in the city to monitor visitors who are from epidemic-hit areas, especially those from Europe, UK and Italy.

When detecting anything unusual about the health and travel history of visitors, they were asked to report to authorities and isolate the suspected patients, Chung said.

Vietnamese citizens who returned from Europe and the UK from March 1 were called on to carry out preventive measures, including restricted contact with others or quarantining themselves if required.

Chung asked the city’s Health Department to promptly inform communes and wards about positive cases so that prevention and control measures can be carried out effectively.

The department was asked to prepare sufficient equipment and staff to establish quarantine areas at hospitals. Medical workers must be trained on caring for COVID-19 patients.

Vice director of the city’s Health Department Hoàng Đức Hạnh reported at the meeting that the city had confirmed five COVID-19 cases. Those in close contact with the patients were identified. Over 3,500 people relating to SARS-CoV-2 cases were under quarantine both at home and in hospitals. — VNS