A student takes the Zhejiang college entrance exam in an isolation room at a centrally quarantined site in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Jan 6. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

The annual gaokao, or college entrance exam, kicked off in Zhejiang on Jan 6, with Ningbo launching detailed plans to ensure the safety of the students and the exam's smooth progress.

Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the city's Beilun district, the district underwent temporary closure on Jan 1 and two areas in Beilun have been under close-loop management since.

More than 4,500 candidates from Beilun had signed up for the exam and over 500 candidates from outside Beilun had to take the exam in the district due to the COVID-19 epidemic control measures.

To ensure that all the candidates can take the exam smoothly, two exam sites, which include 158 rooms, were set up at the areas under close-loop management, while isolated exam rooms were also set up at centrally quarantined sites.

"All the students received a nucleic acid test before the exam. They also had to have their temperature checked and show their health code twice before entering the exam sites," said a director of an exam site in Beilun. "Spare rooms were also arranged in case there were students who failed to pass the temperature and health code check.” 

Four students attended the exam in special isolation rooms at centrally quarantined sites. These rooms had installed surveillance cameras for real-time audio and video recording. The invigilators monitored the exam through video.

According to the local authorities, all candidates in the district participated in the exam on Jan 6.