Resurgent Covid-19 forces campuses to close across east Asia

Hopes for open campuses and “travel bubbles” this summer – and possibly for the upcoming academic year – have burst in east and South-east Asia, regions once lauded for their success during the pandemic.

In the past few days, governments from Taiwan to Thailand have tightened controls, causing universities to scramble with new closure announcements.

While many countries are reporting only scores or hundreds of Covid cases per day, this is still a marked increase. They are facing new Asian variants from places like India and many still have low vaccination rates.

Taiwan, one of the few places in the world to have avoided mass university closures thus far in the pandemic, has introduced its first major restrictions since spring 2020.  

Starting from 17 May, the top-ranked National Taiwan University (NTU) will shut its campus to outside visitors and shift classes of more than 60 students online. The administration advised professors to do the same for smaller classes. Lectures will be broadcast simultaneously online.

Similar arrangements impacting classes, dormitories, cafeterias and sporting events have been announced at National Tsing Hua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan Normal University and National Chengchi University.

John Chung-En Liu, a sociology professor at NTU, told Times Higher Education that this was “obviously a big disappointment. People are grappling with what this means for the next few months.”

New restrictions have caused the National University of Singapore to reinstate work-from-home arrangements for administrative staff starting 17 May.

While some face-to-face instruction is still allowed, it must be done with masks and group discussions are limited to no more than two people. Only laboratory-based research can now be done on campus, according to a statement issued over the weekend.  

Chulalongkorn University, a top-ranked institution in Thailand, announced on 17 May that closures which started in April would not end this week, as they were planned to. Instead, restrictions would continue through at least June, affecting classes, offices and other campus operations. Across the country, it looks as if the start of the academic year will be pushed from May to June. 

Japan has been battling its most recent wave for a month. In April, the University of Tokyo announced further “infection prevention measures”, in line with the government calling a state of emergency in some parts of Japan.

Most courses at Tokyo will stay online, with the exception of those “deemed more educationally effective when conducted face to face”. Some extracurricular activities will still be allowed under “utmost consideration to prevent the spread of infection”.

“The beginning of the new academic year is an incredibly important time for classes, extracurricular activities and other events,” two executive vice-presidents wrote in a notice to students. 

However, they also warned that “infection can spread even by simply removing one’s mask and talking during lunchtime”.

The latest rise in infections means that borders are unlikely to open up in mainland China and Japan. Travel bans to those areas have been in place for a year, despite vocal criticism by some international students.

Meanwhile, the Chinese University of Hong Kong has become the first institution in the city to impose vaccine-related rules that, unlike in the US, have been uncommon in Asia.

Starting in September, students at residential colleges will need to be tested every 14 days at their own expense. One college has said vaccinated students will be prioritised for room availability, which is usually competitive.

Malaysia has already said that it will be closing campuses for the next month. 

joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com