Drills to ensure campus safety in Nansha

Guangzhou’s Nansha district held emergency drills on March 30 in the Qinlin Middle School for preventing COVID-19 disease to ensure that school terms could start in spring in a safe and smooth manner.

The drills, sponsored by the district’s education authority, simulated a series of scenes.

A junior student, Xiaoyu, didn’t feel well -- having a fever and slight cough-- during the third class of history one morning, and she raised her hand to report to the teacher.

The teacher transferred her outside the classroom, and then returned to the classroom to fetch the thermometer and rubber gloves from the medicine box.

The temperature of the student was measured at 37.5 degrees, which suggested a fever. The teacher also learned that the she had gone to her hometown in Hubei for Lunar New Year’s holiday.

The student Xiaoyu (R), accepts an inspection at the infirmary in the school’s emergency drill. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

Immediately afterwards, the teacher took Xiaoyu to the infirmary. After further inspection, the school decided to start an emergency plan to arrange for students to evacuate and disinfect the classroom.

Various links of the exercise guaranteed that an emergency plan could be started as soon as a suspected patient was found in the school.

On the same day, the school also conducted scenarios of emergencies at the gate, teacher’s office, dormitory and dining halls.

In the catering area, uniformed canteen staff measured the temperatures of diners, and only those whose temperatures were normal were allowed to enter the room.

Faculty and graduating class students could only go to the restaurant for meals in shifts. Staff also offered customized service of delivering food to non-graduate classrooms.

The line-up positions are marked on the floor in front of  queuing windows, ensuring that students lined up one meter apart. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

“This is the third anti-epidemic drill in Qinlin Middle School,” said Huang Zhiyuan, principal of the school. “Through the exercises, we clarified the normative procedures in the epidemic prevention process and improved the school’s emergency response capabilities.”

The drills also tested the effectiveness of the school’s preparatory plan, and laid a solid foundation for beginning the school year.

The district’s schools are all required to fully carry out emergency drills of epidemic prevention before April 10 to keep teachers and students safe in the back-to-school season.