Published 15:10 IST, April 28th 2020
China: First graders return to school wearing social distancing headgears
First graders in China's Hangzhou city went back to school on April 27 for the first time since the lockdown in the country began in late January.
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China is slowly returning to normalcy after a long battle against coronavirus that has killed nearly 4,600 people in the country so far. Among the people who are getting back to their usual business are students, who returned to school months after the pandemic forced authorities to shut all educational institutions in late January. According to reports, the first graders in China's Hangzhou city went back to school on April 27 for the first time since the lockdown in the country began. However, what changed is that the students returned with a custom made headgear designed especially for children in order to make them follow the social distancing norms.
The pictures of the kids in their school in Hangzhou city wearing the custom-designed headgears went viral on social media. The pictures were shared by Eileen Chengyin Chow, who pointed out that the headgears bear similarities with the metre-long hats that were prevalent in China's Song dynasty 1000 years ago.
First graders back to school in Hangzhou, with social distancing headgear
— eileen chengyin chow (@chowleen) April 27, 2020
The long horizontal plumes on Song Dynasty toppers were supposedly to prevent officials from conspiring sotto voce with one another while at court—so social distancing was in fact their original function! pic.twitter.com/0AOKsWE1xH
China had allowed students to return to their schools from Monday in cities like Shanghai and Beijing and will reportedly allow students in Wuhan to join schools from May 6. According to reports, students in their middle and high school were allowed to return to school in Shanghai, while only high school students preparing for University entrance exams were allowed to attend classes in Beijing. China's Ministry of Education informed that students will be checked for their temperatures at the gates of the schools, where tents have been set up at the entrance to check pupils entering the campus.
Coronavirus in China
China has reportedly discharged all its COVID-19 patients in epicentre Wuhan, reporting only three new cases and zero deaths nationwide on April 26. China has reportedly been able to bend its curve and control the outbreak to an extent. The total number of infections in the country hasn't recorded a surge for the fast few weeks, keeping it constant at just over 82,000.
(Image Credit: @chowleen/Twitter)
15:10 IST, April 28th 2020