Fresh Covid fears in Chinese city as 2 schools report outbreaks

Residents in Hangzhou worry about return of harsh Covid restrictions after schools suspend classes

It ‘does not represent the start of a new wave of Covid-19’, government’s Covid response team says

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Residents in Hangzhou, China are worried about the return of harsh Covid restrictions after two schools suspended classes over an outbreak. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00pm, 20 Feb 2023Updated: 7:27pm, 20 Feb 2023

Municipal authorities in Hangzhou in eastern China dismissed suggestions that another wave of Covid-19 was sweeping across the city after clusters of new infections were discovered in two schools.

Images circulating on social media since Sunday evening showed a notice posted at a primary school in the city saying 10 pupils from the same class had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The notice said the school administration had decided to suspend the class for four days, with all pupils from that class being advised to rest at home and notify the school if Covid symptoms appeared. Children who tested positive should quarantine at home and return to school only when their PCR tests were negative, the notice said.

The notice said the decision was based on a “higher authorities’ document”, but did not specify which document it was referring to.

On Monday, the education bureau in Xihu, a district in Hangzhou, confirmed an outbreak at a primary school, and said the school had been notified by parents on Sunday that 10 pupils had positive rapid antigen test results and were symptomatic.

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