Vietnam reopens schools after easing coronavirus curbs

[snoop1130]

Vietnam reopens schools after easing coronavirus curbs

 

Primary school students wearing protective masks attend their first day of class after the government eased a nationwide lockdown during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Yen Duong

 

HANOI (Reuters) - Authorities at kindergartens and primary schools in Vietnam took children's temperatures at the gates when they re-opened on Monday from a months-long closure over the coronavirus pandemic, following last week's partial re-opening of other schools.

 

With just 288 infections and no deaths, the Southeast Asian nation has seen no community infections for nearly a month, putting it on course to resume activities sooner than most others in the region.

 

"The teachers told us to use hand sanitizer and not to touch one another at school," a fifth grade student, Vu Tuan Phong, said outside his primary school in Hanoi.

 

He and his schoolmates went home at mid-day, as most schools are following a shorter day than before the pandemic.

 

"Parents, myself included, trust that the government, as well as the school, will take the optimal measures so kids are safe being in school and parents have peace of mind going to work," said one mother in the capital, Ngoc Anh, 29.

 

The school re-opening is Vietnam's latest step in lifting virus curbs, although international commercial flights and dance clubs and karaoke bars remain banned.

 

Schools for older children reopened partially last week.

 

"The risk of COVID-19 (in Vietnam) is low now, and that's a good thing," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said last week. "But we need to stay vigilant."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-11

 

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[Thunder26]

What curbs? They haven''t had any curbs just a few cases!

[lee b]

I think all of Vietnam is open now, is it not? They seem to have had it alot easier than other asian countries

[Darkside Gray]

16 hours ago, lee b said:

I think all of Vietnam is open now, is it not? They seem to have had it alot easier than other asian countries

They did things right, closing borders and testing.

[thecyclist]

16 hours ago, lee b said:

I think all of Vietnam is open now, is it not? They seem to have had it alot easier than other asian countries

I am in Vietnam right now, and yes the country has pretty much opened up internally, but borders are shut, and as soon as they open the borders with virtually zero herd immunity they will get hit big time:so assume that borders will stay shut for quite a while. But it's not all peaches and cream here : during the lockdown I came not so sure how close to being quarantined just for being a farang. And many hotels still refuse farangs in spite of the fact that all the farangs still left are 'old farangs' way past the incubation period.