Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
AsiaWire / Hengshui High School
This is the moment a Chinese school headmaster gives a speech to an empty sports field as schools reopen in the province worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak and pupils take classes online.
The flag raising ceremony at Hengshui High School in China’s central province of Hubei took place on 24th February, but only senior school officials were in attendance.
Footage released by the secondary school shows the ceremony being presided over by deputy headmaster Wang Jianyong, who, along with all others in attendance, is wearing a surgical mask.
Mr Wang announces the start of the ceremony to mark the official reopening of the school, but his speech is given to a handful of senior staff while the usually packed sports field remains completely empty, the video shows.
However, the formalities were watched by every one of the school’s pupils, who instead tuned in to a live stream which they watched on their computers and televisions in the safe and quarantined environments of their own homes.
Part two of the flag raising ceremony, which is a speech given by one of the pupils, was also done remotely, with the message pre-recorded and played to students and faculty members.
The decision to hold the ceremony during the deadly outbreak was also seen as an opportunity to encourage pupils during the national crisis, the school said.
With no end to the COVID-19 outbreak in sight, Chinese schools will continue to give remote lessons online by relying on high-speed internet and the latest advances in live-streaming tools.
The entire province of Hubei, of which coronavirus epicentre Wuhan is the capital, has been on full lockdown since 24th January.
Residents have been ordered to remain in self-isolation indoors, with necessities being purchased online and delivered door to door.
The death toll of COVID-19 has risen to at least 2,663 in mainland China and 2,706 worldwide.
More than 80,000 confirmed cases have been reported since a surge in mid-January.
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