A university in Northeast China has changed its regulation on how frequently students are allowed to take showers on campus every month after a draft regulation drew criticism ahead of the start of the fall semester in September.
A notice issued on Thursday by Qiqihar University in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province stirred heated discussions among Chinese web users for stipulating that students could only make reservations for showers at the campus shower center three times every month, as a measure to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic.
The first batch of students from the university returned to the campus on August 29. According to the notice, between August 29 and September 4, when the number of students accommodated on campus total 6,500, each student can make reservations for a shower twice a week. After September 5, when the number reaches 18,700, they can shower once a week. However, after freshmen arrive, the students can only make shower reservations three times a month.
The university explained that it was adopting a series of management measures including implementing a reservation system, limiting numbers and taking temperatures to minimize gatherings of people and prevent COVID-19 at the shower center.
The notice soon drew a lot of criticism from Chinese web users on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. "It's too horrible to not be able to take a shower for 10 days. So can the leaders of the university set an example?" a netizen commented. "How was the decision made? How did so many leaders come up with such a brainless decision?" another commented. "Since the university will adopt closed management, it is unnecessary to control the shower," a web user commented.
Under the onslaught of criticism, the university adjusted the notice on Saturday on its website, saying university staffers put the draft for the solution to the shower peak problem on the campus website by mistake. The university apologized for the anxiety and trouble it caused to the students, and has ordered related departments to review and make a rectification of the incident.
A university in Northeast China has changed its regulation on how frequently students are allowed to take showers on campus every month after a draft regulation drew criticism ahead of the start of the fall semester in September.
