nCoV threat keeps 4 Metro schools shut

STILL CLOSED Classes remain suspended at Hope Christian High School for the third day in a row as a precaution against the novel coronavirus. —JOAN BONDOC

Several private schools in Metro Manila kept their doors shuttered on Wednesday amid fears that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from Wuhan City, China, had reached Philippine shores despite no confirmed cases.At least four schools, all located in the City of Manila, suspended classes for a third consecutive day this week due to the virus: Hope Christian High School, Philippine Cultural College, St. Stephen’s High School and Uno High School.

Like several others that had also canceled classes on Monday, the four schools cater primarily to Chinese or Chinese-Filipino communities.

There was no word from Philippine Cultural College or Uno High School on when they would reopen.

Hope Christian High School, on the other hand, announced that classes would resume on Feb. 3. St. Stephen’s High School went even further, saying it expected students to return by Feb. 10.

“However, this is a fluid situation,” the school said in a statement. “Circumstances will determine the exact day classes will resume. We are doing everything we can to safeguard your children’s safety.”

Should it open on Feb. 10, that would bring the suspension to two weeks—a seemingly severe preventive measure as Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had asserted that there was no reason to disrupt classes for now.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier said that private schools could make their own decisions although she had shown no interest in suspending classes in public schools, where many students were already struggling to make up for lost time after the disruptions caused by Taal Volcano.

Pace Academy, a Quezon City school that suspended classes on Monday, used the day to conduct a “total disinfection of the whole school on top of our regular disinfection every weekend.”

“We changed the curtains, cleaned the [air-conditioning units] and wiped all the chairs, tables, cabinets, walls and floor with sodium hypochlorite to kill germs,” principal Eddie Lao said in a statement.

But he added that a “protracted suspension at this point in time [was] unwarranted,” citing their desire not to disrupt students’ learning and social interaction, and balance the risks with the benefits.

Several of the schools had advised students who celebrated the Lunar New Year abroad to voluntarily place themselves in quarantine for two weeks and secure a medical certificate before returning to school.They had likewise been discouraged from coming to class by schools that reopened their doors on Wednesday, like St. Jude Catholic School and Tiong Se Academy.