Dozens of students from a local school in Urumqi, capital city of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region eat their meals at their desks, while at the same time, some other classmates wearing masks sit back tightly. Photo: video screenshot

While Chinese schools are racking their brains in arranging students to eat at staggered times in an effort to prevent possible novel coronavirus infections, a video of students eating in a classroom at a primary school in Northwest China went viral over the weekend, being labeled as "priceless" by netizens. 

In a viral video circulating on the Chinese internet, dozens of primary school students were eating their meals at their desks, while at the same time, some other classmates wearing masks sat back tightly, with their eager eyes looking straight at the front and arms crossed. 

The primary school reportedly is a local school in Urumqi, capital city of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to a Shandong broadcaster.

Initially half of the students from the classroom were arranged to eat inside classrooms while the other half were asked to do outdoor activities, but the outdoor activity was temporarily canceled due to a sudden drop in air temperature, that's how students ended up like that in the video, the broadcaster reported citing some parents. 

Those "desperate" classmates won much sympathy online. Some netizens even produced emojis of them.

"I could imagine them drooling through the computer screen," a netizen wrote. Another said "they seem calm and chill. But actually, they were thinking, wow! It smells so good! I can smell the food through my mask!" 

As the COVID-19 epidemic situation improves in China, schools in many provinces and cities opened in recent days but they have yet to solve the dining issue in canteens in a bid to avoid clusters of viral infections on campus.

 

Students from a high school in Beihai, in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, eat on dining tables in the canteen, which set up table blocks with key exam points of subjects printed on them. Photo: video screenshot

A high school in Beihai, in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also drew public attention as the school set up a deck block on every dining table in the canteen, on which were printed the key exam points of subjects, for those senior students who are in their last year going on to university. 

"The key points of all subjects were evenly printed onto these deck blocks," Song Chuanjian, a teacher from the school, told the video platform Pear Video. 

Chemical equations, traditional Chinese articles and diagrams from biology were seen printed on the blocks. 

Many students hailed the special arrangements. An interviewed student said he chooses to sit at a different table every time to better review the key points printed on the blocks while eating. 

Apart from arranging students into staggered times or ways, in the wake of the students' return, some schools also launched measures to prevent the viral spread on campuses, including daily disinfection procedures and dividing larger classes into smaller ones.