China's Gansu postpones exams, classifies communities amid new wave of local infections

LANZHOU -- In view of the recent COVID-19 outbreaks, northwest China's Gansu Province has decided to put off its qualification examination for primary and secondary school teachers, the provincial education department announced on Wednesday.

The examination, previously scheduled on Saturday, is now postponed to the first half of 2022. The schedules for other educational exams will also be adjusted according to the local disease prevention and control dynamics.

Currently, all communities in the province have been classified into three types: areas under closed management, areas with certain management and control measures and others with precaution for the virus spread.

Residents in areas under closed management should observe strict home quarantine and keep themselves indoors, while households in areas with certain management and control measures are allowed to have one person purchase necessities in their community's designated locations every two to three days, according to the provincial health committee.

Meanwhile, citizens in areas with precaution measures are not allowed to leave their county/district except under special circumstances. Those who have to leave should provide proof of a negative nucleic acid test taken within 48 hours before their departure.

From Oct. 18 to the end of Tuesday, Gansu had logged 55 local confirmed cases in the recent COVID-19 resurgence.