Safety Message for Our Community Regarding the Coronavirus

Dear Parents,

We would like to share this important safety message with you:

All Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS) and Yew Wah International Education Schools (YWIES) are closely monitoring the recent outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in several cities and areas including Wuhan, Hubei Province.

In view of the recent outbreak and its potential to spread, we are continually reviewing and responding to ongoing news and announcements issued by relevant state departments and authoritative media. In response, all YCIS and YWIES campuses are taking comprehensive preventive measures to protect the health of our students, staff, and our families.

Since the beginning of this semester, all of our schools have been diligently performing precautionary temperature tests on students, staff, and all visitors upon entry to campus in response to the outbreak of the virus, and they have bolstered the already-frequent disinfection procedures on campus.

In accordance with the YCIS and YWIES ‘Infectious Disease Response Plan’, all campuses have been required to upgrade their epidemic response level after returning to school from the Spring Festival holiday.

Under this response level, in addition to routine cleaning, disinfection, ventilation, and other practices, our schools will also take the following measures:

1. All students, staff, and visitors must have their temperature taken and confirmed before entering all school campuses;

2. A summary of all student absences and leave/attendance records are compiled and reviewed daily;

3. Minimize the number of visitors to campus during school hours;

4. Stop using sandboxes and water play areas;

5. Inform parents of preventive measures by letter;

6. Reduce or stop off-campus visits;

7. Before entering the school buses, all bus personnel must take students' temperatures;

8. Disinfection mats are placed at the entrances of all campuses;

9. Ensure frequent inventory checks and immediate replenishment of cleaning products (soap, disinfectant, wet wipes, etc.) and health protection products (latex gloves, masks, etc.);

10. Increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfection times for classroom items, playground facilities, outdoor areas, elevator buttons, air conditioning filters, exhaust fans, windows, U/V lamps, etc.

This week, all Yew Chung and Yew Wah schools will be commencing their holiday break for Chinese New Year. During this period of increased travel, students, staff, and their families are advised to take all necessary extra precautions as recommended by the authorities to ensure their health, safety, and wellbeing are protected.

The following is a list of preventive measures provided by the Department of Health of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for travellers and advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Avoid visiting hospitals. If it is necessary to visit a hospital, wear a surgical mask and observe strict personal and hand hygiene;

• Avoid touching animals (including game), poultry/birds, or their droppings;

• Avoid visiting wet markets, live poultry markets, or farms;

• Avoid making close contact with patients, especially those with symptoms of acute respiratory infections;

• Do not consume game meat and do not patronise food premises where game meat is served;

• Adhere to food safety and hygiene rules such as avoiding consuming raw or undercooked animal products, including milk, eggs, and meat, or foods which may be contaminated by animal secretions, excretions (such as urine), or contaminated products, unless they have been properly cooked, washed, or peeled;

• If feeling unwell when outside the country, especially if experiencing a fever or cough, wear a surgical mask, inform hotel staff and/or tour guides, and seek medical advice at once; and

• After returning, consult a doctor promptly should you have a fever or other symptoms, and take the initiative to inform a doctor of any recent travel history and/or any exposure to animals, and wear a surgical mask to help prevent the spread of the disease.

                                                                         –Department of Health, HKSAR

Again, we would like to wish everyone a healthy, safe, and very happy Chinese New Year and look forward to welcoming our students, staff, and families back to campus in the Year of the Rat!