Hanoi students to stay home over latest Covid-19 outbreak

By Binh Minh May 3, 2021 | 05:34 am PT

Students at the Nguyen Du Secondary School in Hanoi's Nam Tu Liem District wear masks to school as a coronavirus prevention measure in 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Around two million students from kindergarten to high school levels in Hanoi have been asked to stay home starting Tuesday amid rising coronavirus concerns.

Classes would switch to online study instead, the city's Department of Education and Training said Monday. Centers that teach foreign languages, computer skills and those that provide short-term education using foreign capitals would also have to suspend classes, it added.

For kindergarteners whose online classes are not an option, schools may apply other forms of technologies and collaborate with teachers and parents to educate the children instead.

The decision followed Hanoi recording three community transmission cases which stemmed from a coronavirus outbreak in northern Ha Nam Province, coupled with the fact that a large number of people would return to the city after a four-day Reunification Day and International Workers' Day holiday since last Friday.

Hanoi is the fifth Vietnam locality to let students stay home amid new coronavirus outbreaks, after the northern provinces of Ha Nam, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen and Yen Bai.

During a coronavirus outbreak last year, all Vietnamese students had to stay home and study online for nearly three months.

Since last Thursday, Vietnam has recorded 34 community transmission cases in Ha Nam, Hanoi, Hung Yen, HCMC and Vinh Phuc, following around a month with no community transmission.

The total coronavirus tally is at 2,981, with 35 deaths.