Universities in China's capital are welcoming nearly one million students back to campus under stringent anti-coronavirus management in the coming two weeks, including more than 600,000 college students from various places across the country.

The students who are traveling from other provinces and regions are required to take nucleic acid tests in advance at local testing sites and provide a proof of negative result while returning to the school in Beijing, said Li Yi, spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Education Committee. Expenses related to testing are covered by their schools.

The capital's authorities along with universities and colleges across the city launched a raft of social distance rules and coronavirus precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of the students, teachers and staff.

Schools in the capital that have been through a thorough disinfection process started opening on August 15 with a staggered timetable and COVID-19 confinement measures in place.

According to the committee, by August 20, 13 of the total 93 universities in Beijing had already reopened for the autumn semester registration. So far, more than 27,000 students have returned to campus, with about 3,000 to 5,000 returnees currently arriving in the city on a daily basis.

Next week, from August 31 to September 6, officials are expecting a peak in students numbers, with around 200,000 returning to campus. 

Though none of the city's universities decided to impose closed-off management for the time being, they still require students to observe strict social distance rules to prevent cross-infection amid the coronavirus.

"Currently, we believe that students should limit gatherings and activities outside the school irrelevant to their academic research, teaching, and study," said Li.

Students returning for on-site lectures would receive temperature checks, be required to wear a mask, present the health code and their ID or student cards while entering the campus.

Li added that the capital's authorities would closely monitor the coronavirus situation for a certain period after most of schools reopen on September 1 to see if the restrictions can be further loosened.

(Cover: Students take selfies at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture in Beijing, China, August 26, 2020. /Xinhua)