All students who plan to attend the National College Entrance Examinations, also known as gaokao, are required to provide a negative nucleic acid test result taken within seven days before the exam, which will take place from June 7 to 9, according to a news conference held by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Information Office at the Civic Center in Futian District on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, all proctors and examination staff should have their health monitored 14 days prior to the exam while also needing to have completed COVID-19 vaccination.

Wang Shuifa, deputy head of the municipal education bureau, stressed at the conference that closed management will be implemented on all exam-takers who live on campus before the end of the exam. Schools should also make arrangements for students who live off campus to stay in the school as long as possible during the examination period.

If the school is unable to provide accommodation, or if they cannot live in the school for special reasons, the exam-takers should maintain personal protection behaviors and avoid gatherings and going out.

Additionally, in light of the current situation of pandemic prevention and control, the bureau requires all kinds of schools at all levels to suspend large-scale group activities on campus and not to organize students to participate in off-campus social activities.

Teachers and students are asked to carry masks and wear them at indoor public places and outdoor crowded places outside their schools. They are not required, however, to wear a mask after entering their schools.

The bureau also advises teachers, students and parents to reduce unnecessary travel and stay in the city, when possible, and not to travel to high-risk areas, unless necessary, today, the Children’s Day, and during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Two asymptomatic COVID-19 cases were newly found in the second round of whole-district nucleic acid testing in Yantian District. So far, a total of 13 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases have been reported in the city since May 21.

“The current epidemic situation is limited to the Yantian Port area and its adjacent areas, and no new infection cases have been found in other areas. The epidemic situation is generally controllable, and the risk of large-scale spread of the novel coronavirus is low,” said Chang Juping, deputy head of the municipal health commission.

The two newly reported cases are a couple living in Yantian District. Both have been sent to the emergency ward in Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital for treatment, and are currently in stable condition.

The husband, surnamed Xia, previously worked at the office in the comprehensive connected area at Yantian Port. Xia’s wife, surnamed He, is a housewife.

According to Chang, after studying the genetic sequencing, the genes of 11 of the 13 cases were found to be highly homologous and similar to the British virus strain. The genetic results of the novel coronavirus genes of the two new cases are yet to come out.

Massive nucleic acid testing has also been conducted in Longgang and Yantian districts. According to Hu Chao-yang, executive deputy head of Yantian District, the district is striving to conduct nucleic acid testing on all residents in the district and let all eligible vaccine recipients get vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to the city’s market regulation administration, as of 2 p.m. Sunday, 223,000 workers in key registered places, such as the wet markets and supermarkets around the city, had completed nucleic acid testing, and the test results were all negative.

In addition, nucleic acid tests have been carried out on 130,000 bus, taxi and online car-hailing drivers in the city since Wednesday. All of them have tested negative.