Gao Mengxian, a security guard in Hong Kong, said her two daughters were constantly asking when they were out to play and go to school.

Gao's two daughters have been at home for more than a month, since the Hong Kong Special Zone government ordered the closure of schools in January to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. The 48-year-old had to quit her job to look after her 8 and 10-year-old daughters while trying to squeeze out her expenses.

Each week, Gao only went out once. Most of the time she spends time tinkering with technology, helping her children learn online, but often gets confused and disappoints children. In Hong Kong, many people like Gao are also struggling to maintain a normal life for the family.

Not only in Hong Kong, Covid-19 increasingly penetrated deeply into the daily lives of people around the world, when 22 countries on three continents declared school closures at different levels. Students in some countries only need to stay home for a few days, but many places last for weeks.

In Italy, the largest outbreak in Europe, the government decided to close schools nationwide until March 15, instead of being limited to the northern regions, the region most heavily affected by Covid-19. . Washington State in the US, which recorded at least 10 deaths from nCoV, and New York state also closed some schools.

The UN says this disruption affects 290.5 million students around the world, with scale and speed that seems unprecedented in modern history. Because schools function to support families, communities and the economy, closing them for long periods can have huge consequences for both children and society, according to commentator Vivian Wang and Makiko Inoue of NYTimes.

To cope with the situation, officials and schools around the world are making efforts to teach and manage students from afar. The Italian government set up a website where teachers can meet and teach online. Mongolia broadcasts lectures over television. The Iranian government has free content for all children online.

Students even have to learn PE distance learning. A school in Hong Kong requires students to wear a gym uniform and follow the instructions of the instructor on screen. Each student's webcam will record "evidence".

However, managing students through the screen is really challenging, because they can not avoid distractions while using electronic devices, besides a series of technological barriers. Thira Pang, a high school girl in Hong Kong, repeatedly logged in late to online classes because of the slow network. Now 17-year-old girls must log in 15 minutes earlier. "Being able to get into class no longer needs a little luck," Pang said.

For younger students and technologically blind guardians, this new class creates a much bigger problem. Ruby Tan, a teacher in Chongqing City, China, said many grandparents are taking care of her grandchildren so their parents can work. However, not everyone knows about technology.

"They do not have any way to monitor children's learning, but instead let them develop bad habits such as being unable to concentrate during school," Tan said.

Network disconnection situation is also unavoidable. The posts on Chinese social media show that teachers and students have to climb on the roof, or wander the streets to catch Internet signals. A family in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region even carried a tent and took shelter somewhere on the prairie just to have a healthier life.

The closure of the school also upset the educational program in countries like Japan, where the school year usually ends in March. Many schools now only allow teachers and students to attend graduation ceremonies. your family members.

So Satoko Morita, a parent in Akita Prefecture, was unable to attend her son's high school graduation ceremony on March 1. This situation will also repeat when her daughter graduated from elementary school. "My daughter asked me what was the meaning of the speech at the graduation ceremony when my parents were not there," Morita said.

For Chloe Lau, a student in Hong Kong, her senior high school ended abruptly due to the expected last day of April 2, while all schools in Hong Kong were closed at least. April 20.

While unable to bring children to school, parents have a headache thinking of ways to divide the responsibilities in the family. Julia Bossard, a mother of two in France, said she had to rearrange the entire schedule since her oldest son was at home. Every day, Bossard helped his children with homework and scoured every supermarket to buy rice and canned goods, items increasingly scarce.

The burden seems to be on women as they are often considered to be in charge of family care, especially in the absence of babysitters.

Lee Seong-yeon's 11-year-old son, who manages health information at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, has been at home since the government closed schools across the country on February 2. Her husband also works at the hospital and they are now busier than ever. In the context that Korea became the second largest outbreak in the world, the couple could not leave work.

Except for the weekend, Lee's son is left alone every day, eating lunch of Kimchi fried rice and sausages that Lee has prepared. "If my son is younger, I think I will quit my job because I cannot leave him home alone," Lee said.

However, Lee felt that her career would still be affected. "I usually leave work at 18:00 to go home to cook dinner for my children, while my colleagues are still hanging on. So I know I won't be recognized at work," she said.

Anastasia Moschos, an insurance broker in Athens, Greece, seemed more fortunate when her father visited just as the grandson's school was closed for a week. Moschos left the 6-year-old boy to look after his grandfather. But if the school stopped working longer, she would struggle to find help. "Everyone has someone to support, but I do not. I am a single mother," the 47-year-old woman shared.

Even people who escape the heavily affected area of Covid-19 are unlikely to send their children. Cristina Tagliabue, a businessman from Milan, Italy, and her 2-year-old son recently moved into their second home in the capital Rome. However, there are no facilities to take care of her son, because other parents do not want anyone from Milan to be near their children.

Tagliabue had to put aside some work because he could not concentrate on doing things at home without a babysitter. "Closing schools is the right decision, but there are costs. The government should act to support mothers," the businesswoman said.

Governments in several countries are trying to regulate society amid the crisis because of Covid-19. Japan provides subsidies to companies to cover the losses incurred by many parents leaving their jobs. In France, parents who are forced to stay home to look after their children will have 14 paid days off.

However, the influence of students at home has spread to hidden corners that seem unrelated to education. In Japan, the government's sudden decision to close schools caused managers to hastily cancel a series of lunch orders. As a result, suppliers have been bombarded with food and support workers are no longer needed.

Kazuo Tanaka, deputy director of the School Lunch Center in Yachimata City, said they had to cancel the order of raw materials corresponding to 5,000 lunches for 13 schools. He estimates the school closes every month, costing the center about 20 million yen (nearly $ 200,000).

"The bakery is stunned. Vegetable farmers and dairy farmers are also affected. Staff at the centers serve lunches for unemployed schools," said Yuzo Kojima, secretary general of the Association of Meals. Japanese School lunch, said. The Japanese government provides financial support to parents, small businesses and health care providers, but these employees are not.

In Hong Kong, where a large number of domestic workers are employed, many also become unemployed when wealthy parents take their children abroad to avoid the epidemic. Demand for child care has dropped by a third since Covid-19 broke out, as many companies allowed employees to work remotely, said Felix Choi, the director of Babysitter.hk's child care provider.

"More than 30% of our customers are Western families. Many of them have not returned to Hong Kong. They almost all announced that they would only return after schools opened," Choi said.