Xi’an holds exams in midst of COVID
Print Edition
WANG Xin was diagnosed as a confirmed COVID-19 patient days before his big moment.
Wang, who lives in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, was among the 4.57 million students appearing for China’s three-day postgraduate entrance exam, which ended yesterday.
In Xi’an, a megacity coping with a recent resurgence of COVID-19, there were about 135,000 candidates.
The provincial capital city with a population of 13 million had registered a total of 635 locally transmitted cases by 12pm on Sunday since the latest outbreak on December 9.
On December 23, just two days before the exam, Xi’an imposed closed-off management for communities and villages in an effort to contain the spread.
To minimize the impact on the candidates, the city government decided to hold isolated exams for test-takers under quarantine.
A slew of innovative measures was put in place to ensure their smooth participation.
Wang, who would have taken the exam at Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, instead sat in an isolated room in Xi’an Chest Hospital, where he was being treated.
At 8am on Saturday, the school staff brought exam papers to the hospital and assisted medics in supervising the exam with the help of video monitoring and interphone. After the tests, the completed papers were disinfected and sealed and taken back to the university.
Quarantined rooms had also been established for students, who had close contact or live in communities with confirmed cases.
“There has never been a year when the organization of the postgraduate entrance exam has been so challenging,” read a letter to candidates released by the Shaanxi education examination authority ahead of the exam.
At Xi’an International Studies University, a total of 5,496 participants were expected to take the exam, including six labeled as close contacts or secondary close contacts and 134 from communities that reported COVID-19 infections.
The university had designated a building as an isolated exam site, with nine rooms set up and 42 invigilators.
The invigilators were required to wear hazmat suits while the exam-takers only needed to wear a mask.
The students, who are unable to leave the room during the lunch break, were provided with free meals.
But on Saturday afternoon, the number of examinees at the university’s isolated exam rooms suddenly jumped to 189 as a village nearby reported new cases the night before.
“I’m really grateful for the detailed plan made by the school. I was chauffeured to the new test site and guided by volunteers all the way,” said Zhang Zhongyuan, a test taker from Xi’an Jiaotong University.
Xu Bin, 43, is a teacher at Xi’an International Studies University. He was among the eight invigilators at the hotel where two examinees that had close contact with COVID-19 patients were sitting for the exam.
After undergoing rigorous training in epidemic prevention and invigilation, Xu checked into the isolation hotel a day in advance. Xu was provided with 15 kinds of epidemic prevention materials, including 48 protective suits, 64 N95 face masks, 80 pairs of gloves, in addition to eight sets of pencils, erasers and pens, one set for each student in each test.
After the exam, Xu will continue to stay at the hotel for isolation for a fortnight.
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