HK starts summer holiday early as local COVID-19 cases surge

HONG KONG - Hong Kong schools will begin summer vacation next Monday as a surge in COVID-19 cases within the community after a long stretch without infections forces the financial hub to revert to tighter social distancing rules.

Briefing the press on Friday afternoon, Hong Kong Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said secondary and primary schools as well as kindergartens will suspend class starting coming Monday.

Flexibility will be allowed for schools to hold important examinations that had been scheduled for next week, including internal examinations for the purpose Secondary School Places Allocation for Primary 5 students, Yeung said.

Necessary precautions, such as wearing masks and keeping a safe social distancing between students, should be adopted to prevent the transmission of the disease, Yeung said.

Schools should also remain open until the originally scheduled day of the beginning of the summer holiday.

The city reported 34 locally transmitted cases on Thursday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began. The resurgence in Hong Kong comes after weeks as people returned to work and restaurants were again filled up.

Some of the recent cases involved students and parents, said Yeung.

Schools in the city have been mostly shut since February with many having switched to online learning and lessons by conference call. Many international schools are already on summer break.

With inputs from agencies