Education authorities, faculty and students should not drop their guard against the COVID-19 epidemic and should strictly follow epidemic prevention and control measures, the Ministry of Education said on Friday.

Wang Dengfeng, an official with the ministry, said an important reason for recent local outbreaks was lax epidemic prevention and control protocols, and the education sector should increase its alertness toward the epidemic.

Schools have high concentrations of people and the well-being of students concerns millions of households, he said at a news conference.

Schools should make contingency plans for possible outbreaks and full preparation in epidemic containment for the new semester, he said, adding they should also be prepared for online teaching in case of new outbreaks.