Tet holiday begins one week earlier for Hanoi students

• Vietnam confirms 14 new COVID-19 cases on January 31 morning
• Health Ministry licenses COVID-19 vaccine from the UK

The Tet holiday will end on February 16, unchanged from earlier plans.

The new schedule was a proposal of the municipal Department of Education and Training, which was approved by Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee and head of the city’s steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control Chu Xuan Dung, on January 31.

The decision applies to students at all levels from kindergarten to high schools, as well as centres for vocational training and continuing education.

On the right is a notice from Phan Dinh Phung high school in Hanoi, which says all students temporarily skip going to the school for COVID-19 prevention and control (Photo: VNA)

According to official statistics from the department, some 25,000 teachers and employees in the educational sector in the city have to stay at home due to their links to F1 cases of COVID-19 patients. Many local schools have asked for the department’s permission to switch to online teaching.

The municipal Department of Education and Training earlier issued a document instructing local schools to prepare for online teaching as from February 1.

Two locally-infected cases were confirmed late January 27 in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces after 55 days without any case of community transmission. The number of cases has increased rapidly over the past several days, with cases detected in other localities including Hanoi.

Local authorities and the health sector are implementing drastic measures with the aim of containing the outbreak within 10 days.