A middle-aged man, carrying a knife, was shouting at the gate of the Yuyuan Road No. 1 Primary School in Changning District while trying to climb over the fence to get in yesterday morning.

Several police officers, armed with batons, arrived soon. They immediately warned the man to lay down his weapon and rushed to stop him.

The man clashed with the police, waving his knife rapidly. Special police, bearing batons and riot shields, then joined the officers. They rounded up the man, finally managing to control him with joint efforts.

This was not a real incident of someone violently attacking a school, but part of a safety drill launched by the school and the Changning branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau to prevent school violence and improve the school’s ability to respond to campus emergencies ahead of the new semester, which kicks off tomorrow.

Changning police authorities have equipped the school with a network for unified defense against violent cases, according to Zhang Jia, an official of the Jiangsu Road Police Station.

“If school security guards find any suspicious people loitering around or wanting to enter the school, they can immediately contact the public security bureau through the network,” Zhang said. “On receiving the alarm, we will promptly inform the nearest police station to dispatch officers to the scene.”

Another part of the drill was set in a scenario where a girl student is found with abnormal temperature during morning screening for coronavirus prevention and control.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, schools in Shanghai have set up infrared screening machines at the gates to check students’ temperature as part of pandemic prevention and control measures.

In the drill, the school faculty immediately took the “feverish” student to a tent near the gate for temporary isolation and observation. Meanwhile, guards continued to maintain order at the gate to prevent panic and chaos arising from the case.

Other schools in Shanghai are also ready to welcome students back to campus.

At the Luwan Middle School in Huangpu District, teachers played the roles of students in a drill to test its pandemic prevention and control measures.

Students need to keep distance when waiting to enter the campus and disinfect their hands at automatic disinfectant machines. When they enter the building, they will walk on a carpet soaked with disinfectant, and an infrared screening machine will check their temperature. Those with abnormal temperatures will be guided to a room for further observation.

Students’ lunch will be served in classrooms with boxed meals while teachers can take their meals back to their office to reduce gathering.

All classrooms were cleaned and sterilized yesterday, with a robot used to disinfect public spaces in the school.

“The robot is new and will work after teachers and students leave the campus every day,” said Zhang Yi, the school principal. “It sprays disinfectant while moving around. It can also take the elevator to sterilize space on every floor.”