More than 100 Education and Manpower Bureau staffs have visited the 400-plus secondary schools in Hong Kong to monitor the resumption and to check for problems and provide solutions and support, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower Cheng Yan Chee said after inspecting schools which resumed classes.

"So far the operation seems smooth. Just like the school I am now visiting. Body temperature form collection boxes are available. And the schools have mobilized teachers, students and parents to prepare for the resumption.

"If the students have not measured their body temperature at home, the schools' student members of Hong Kong Red Cross have setup counters at their school and have been standing by to check it for the students," Cheng said.

So far, the Education and Manpower Bureau has ordered 4,000 thermal scans, and every school has been allotted one by the HKSAR government.

Cheng called on parents to do their utmost to help their children measure their temperature at home before going to school, as it would be administratively difficult for schools to measure it due to the massive number of students.

He also called on students to prepare their own protective masks, as the school will only provide them if the students have forgotten to bring their own.

Cheng added that the HKSAR government is monitoring the safety and spread of the disease day-by-day in order to decide whether or not junior secondary school and primary school students should resume classes en bloc on April 28.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2003)