Zhongnan Theological Seminary Ushers in New Semester

Students of Zhongnan Theological Seminary attended a class on the first day of the spring semester on February 23, 2022.
Students of Zhongnan Theological Seminary attended a class on the first day of the spring semester on February 23, 2022. (photo: Hubei CC&TSPM)
By John WangFebruary 28th, 2022

Zhongnan Theological Seminary ushered in the spring semester of 2022.

On February 21-22, the students who successively returned to school lined up in the waiting area at a social distance at the gate of the seminary, registering and having their temperature measured, Hubei CC&TSPM reported. They needed to submit relevant materials, such as the nucleic acid negative certificate conducted within 48 hours, the health monitoring report form 14 days before returning to school, the health and safety commitment of returning personnel, as well as scanned the itinerary code and showed their health codes. After being disinfected, they entered the campus, with seven students delaying returning to school due to the pandemic.

On the morning of February 23, all the teachers, students, and staff underwent nucleic acid testing, according to the relevant requirements of the Hubei Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, Jiangxia District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, the university office and epidemic prevention and control headquarter. In order to reduce the gathering of people, there would be no opening ceremony, no retreats, and no collective morning and evening devotions at the beginning of this semester. In the afternoon, the students began to have classes.

According to the Wuhan Command Center for COVID-19 Control and Prevention in Hubei on February 21, three people from other provinces and one close contact case tested positive, and ten new confirmed cases were detected the next day. On February 23, the seminary office held an emergency pandemic prevention and control meeting.  

The meeting required students to implement closed-loop management within 14 days after arriving at the school and to have the nucleic acid test three times in a row. Rev. Zhang Shuilian, executive vice president of the seminary, announced that morning and evening devotions and Sunday services would be held in "separate classes". Students are requested to dine in the canteen in batches at different times, using separated utensils. The library is opened with restrictions on visitor numbers. Rev. Cheng Yuchi, director of the office of the seminary, stressed that all classes should implement measures such as "four necessities", "daily temperature measurement", "daily report", "daily disinfection" and "zero-case report", so as to clarify the division of labor and implement responsibilities.

- Translated by Tracy Ye

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