Thousands of high school students in China’s central Henan Province have been isolated since early October in makeshift quarantine facilities, such as schools, amid a recent wave of COVID-19 in the province.
Multiple counties in Henan, including Bo’ai county, Yucheng county, and Yanling county, have locked down their residents and high school students, although they haven’t disclosed how many have tested positive for COVID-19, according to residents.
Students share rooms with fellow students who test positive for COVID-19, and there is a lack of water, proper food, medicines, clothing, and bedding during dropping temperatures.
The local authorities haven’t informed worried parents of the whereabouts of students, and some adults have also been locked down.
In despair, some parents pleaded for help online.
Authorities ‘Risking Children’s Lives’: Mother
Li Mei (a pseudonym), whose son is a student at the No. 1 Senior Middle School of Yanling county, Xuchang city, Henan Province, said that the pandemic was more serious than the local authorities had disclosed.
Chinese middle schooling consists of three years of junior middle school and three years of senior middle school, and middle school students are aged between 12 and 18.
When speaking with the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Nov. 2, Li said that the county authorities launched isolation measures more than half a month ago, although they kept reporting zero positive COVID-19 cases.
“We don’t know if the county government covered up the pandemic numbers, or if the higher level authorities altered them,” Li said.
According to Li, more than 1,000 students at the middle school tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 10,000 residents in the county tested positive for the disease.
Li’s son was among those locked down on the campus. Li said that her son developed a high fever twice and felt dizzy, but he wasn’t informed of his testing results. The students had to drink tap water, which isn’t potable in some regions of China, although there were piles of bottled water at the entrance of the school.
By Sophia Lam
