KDCA head's study supports resuming offline classes at school

A teacher gives a class online from an empty classroom at Yongsan Elementary School, Seoul, in this April 16, 2020 photo. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

By Bahk Eun-ji

A study by the head of the nation's disease control authority has shown that school closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 here were ineffective and had a negative impact in other areas.

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong published a paper in the Journal of Pediatric Infection and Vaccine, Dec. 27, following research which she jointly conducted with a team from the Department of Social Medicine at Hallym University Medical School.

In the paper, the team surveyed 127 children aged three to 18 who were infected between May 1 and July 12 last year when in-person classes resumed at schools. Of them, only three, or 2.4 percent, contracted the virus from classmates or teachers.

Another 59 children (46.5 percent) were infected via family members or relatives; 18, (14.2 percent) were infected at private cram schools or from private tutors; and eight (6.3 percent) contracted the virus after using multi-use facilities such as karaoke or PC rooms, and churches.

During the research period, the country as a whole saw 13,417 infections with 7.2 percent of them among those aged under 19. The ratio was not much different from those during other periods when schools were closed.

"These results are similar to those of prior studies published in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, which stated that schools are not high-risk places for coronavirus infection," the team said in the paper.

It said education at schools should be able to resume as long as infection prevention measures were implemented.

While schools were closed, other social problems emerged, such as a clear gap in learning depending on the financial status of parents, and students' lack of social skills.

However, it remains to be seen whether the research will impact the government's decision on whether to allow schools to open for the new semester in March, as the study was limited to the May-July period and the country is currently struggling to contain a third wave of the pandemic.

In regards to the research, Park Young-joon, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said in a briefing Thursday, "The study was conducted to trace the infection routes of COVID-19 among children to determine whether holding classes in schools is appropriate."

"There were not as many infections at schools as we initially expected. But the small number was possible because quarantine measures were carried out appropriately at schools."

Although the number of daily new cases has recently declined due to intensive social distancing measures since the end of last year, the government plans to make a decision on school operations after monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

The KDCA reported 401 more infections for Wednesday, including 380 local ones, raising the total caseload to 73,918.

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