The Beijing Municipal Education Commission recently announced that local college students can delay their graduation date because of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The epidemic has so far caused delays on many aspects, such as graduates writing their theses, taking exams and looking for jobs.

However, further delays seem unavoidable, as college students across the country have been studying online for more than a month now and the date for them to return to their colleges has not been decided yet.

Online classes are an expediency, but there is always work that cannot be accomplished online, especially for those majoring in science and engineering who need to work in laboratories.

The only way to ensure quality work by students graduating this year is to give them more time for writing their essays or finishing diploma projects. The education authorities in Beijing have made the right decision in this regard, even though it comes at additional costs.

However, since Beijing is not the only city affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the authorities in other municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions would do well by following the example of the capital and pushing the graduation date for students in their areas.

Those in other sectors, too, could consider adjusting their policies in accordance with the situation.

For example, social security departments could consider allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to delay contributing their part of the payment to help them overcome strained finances; even banks could consider giving those enterprises a grace period of one or two months for repaying loans.

It might be hard work that requires more efforts, but it would be worth trying.