A school has banned two Romanian schoolchildren of Chinese origin until they can prove they do not have the coronavirus despite there currently being no test available for the disease in the country.
The incident took place in the Romanian capital Bucharest when staff from the unnamed school prevented the two students, who are Romanian citizens but who were born in China, from entering the grounds, according to local media.
Reports said that the Romanian pupils with a Chinese background have to provide evidence that they are not carrying the deadly coronavirus that is currently spreading across regions in the Asian country as well as further afield.
According to local media, the students were taken to the Victor Babesh Hospital to undergo tests.
But City health official Emilian Imbri said: “Two Romanian citizens originally from China were taken to the Victor Babesh Hospital on 27th January saying that they were banned from entering the school unless they could prove they don’t have coronavirus.
“Let’s not go to the extremes, we don’t even have tests for this strain of virus yet and neither does Balsh (Romanian city where the National Institute of Infectious Diseases is located).
“We are expecting to receive a relevant kit to conduct the test soon, but until then we all need to understand that not everyone needs to take a test. It’s not like a simple flu test.”
According to local media, the two students in question had recently returned from a trip to Spain and there was no real reason to suspect that they had coronavirus other than their ethnic background. They also did not display any signs of cold or flu.
It is unclear whether the school will be investigated for the decision to exclude the Romanian-Chinese pupils.
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Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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