Taiwan’s university students headed back to class on Monday for the new semester. But authorities are taking special precautions to keep the virus at bay.
Last week, Taiwan’s primary and secondary schools reopened after an extended winter break. Students got an extra two weeks off due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
This week, universities are back in session. National Taiwan University’s Secretary-General Sun Hsiao-chih says that, since its founding, the school has never canceled classes, and it’s not about to cancel them now. But the school has contingency plans, in the event that someone in the school is infected with COVID-19.
If any student or faculty contracts the virus, then the affected classes will continue online. Sun says that if two or more people are infected with COVID-19 on any of the school’s many campuses, then that entire campus will be shut down. He says that if any two people in a college are infected, then all in-person lectures will stop and online learning will be instituted school-wide.
Right now, everyone entering school buildings will have their temperature checked. Everyone connected to the university also needs to fill out a questionnaire about their travel history and general health. That will help reduce concern about the possibility of infection taking place on school grounds.