Coronavirus: ‘little, if any, possibility’ Hong Kong schools resume fully on April 20, Lam says
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There is now little to no possibility that Hong Kong’s schools will fully reopen on April 20, the city’s chief executive said on Tuesday, as the government continues to step up measures to contain a surge in imported coronavirus infections
Speaking at her weekly media briefing, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that while classes could only resume in stages, the government was actively trying to boost the supply of children’s masks by asking the Correctional Services Department for help.
About 900,000 kindergarten, primary and secondary students have been out of school since February 3, with April 20 targeted as a tentative date for resumption of classes.
Last week, teachers and principals suggested schools begin reopening in stages from that date, though Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, a medical expert advising Lam, said schools should reopen only if no locally transmitted coronavirus infections had been recorded for four weeks.
“In terms of class resumption, we will be very cautious. It seems that there’s little, if any, possibility that schools can completely resume on April 20,” Lam said at Tuesday’s briefing.
“Even if the situation stabilises, we can only do that in stages.”