Schools must be safe before the resumption of classes, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said at a meeting on new corona virus diseases Covid-19 prevention on February 14, VnExpress reported.

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"Safe both from the professional perspective and in the mind of students and their parents. Students should not go back to schools if they still fear being infected with the novel coronavirus (nCoV) and still have to wear a medical mask in classroom," Dam said.

The deputy PM requested the Ministry of Education and Training to provide detailed instructions so that all levels, schools, teachers, students and parents can take measures to ensure students’ health before they return to school.

First of all, the Vietnamese government and schools need to strive by all means to ensure that schools and classrooms are really safe for students, Dam added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health suggested that localities that are still free from the nCoV epidemic can reopen schools after sterilization.

For localities where nCoV-infected patients are detected, the local Department of Education and Training must continue to monitor and allow the students to return to school only after preventive measures are taken, infected people are isolated and there are no new nCoV-infected cases.

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha on Friday affirmed that the school year 2019-2020 will be extended due to the Covid-19 epidemic.