China: Entrance exams for Shanghai colleges, high schools postponed amid COVID resurgence

The Shanghai Municipal government on Saturday postponed entrance examinations for colleges and senior high schools in the city by a month, due to the latest resurgence of COVID-19. Over 50,000 students will sit for the college entrance examination, which will be held from July 7 to 9. Another 110,000 students will attend the senior high school entrance examination, scheduled on July 11 and 12, while laboratory exams for physics and chemistry and foreign language listening tests will be canceled, reported Xinhua. Chen Qun, vice mayor of Shanghai, said special rooms will be set up for students under concentrated quarantine or with abnormal COVID-19 test results, ensuring every student will be able to sit the exams. Since March 12, all primary and secondary schools in Shanghai have switched to online teaching, and kindergartens and nurseries have been closed, as per the media outlet, as per the media outlet.

This update comes as China on Friday reported 345 local confirmed COVID-19 cases, said the National Health Commission in its report. Out of 345, 253 were confirmed in Shanghai. Despite the severe risk to the country's economy, China's controversial Zero-Covid Policy continues to remain in place to contain the surge of COVID-19 infections as Xi Jinping refuses to change course.

With a tremendous rise in COVID cases caused by the Omicron variant, China is going through its worst outbreak which will impact freight costs and global inflation, said a local media report.

Moreover, China's much-publicized "Zero-Covid" strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic is also falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020 as well as adding to the country's economic woes.

( With inputs from ANI )