Kindergarten student, 5, contracts coronavirus in Seoul
Cars line up at a drive-thru testing location for coronavirus at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
A kindergarten student, 5, has been infected with the novel coronavirus in Seoul, said the city's education office on Monday, leading to the shutdown of several education institutes in Gangseo-gu district, where the young patient lives.
The news quickly raised fear among parents with young children, just two days ahead of the planned second-phase resumption of schools, including kindergartens.
The boy is believed to have contracted the virus from his art teacher at Young Rembrandts, a private art school in Magok of Gangseo on the south side of the Han River.
The teacher tested positive Sunday and is found to have taught at the institute until Friday.
A health worker performs a coronavirus test on a man at a triage tent in Gangseo-gu district, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
The boy's kindergarten and two nearby elementary schools ― Gongjin and Gonghang elementary schools ― were closed for the day for disinfection and other precautionary measures.
Under the government's phased school reopening plan, schools are scheduled to resume in-person classes for the two lowest grades of elementary school, kindergarten students, middle school seniors and second-year high school students. High school seniors returned to school last week after more than two months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)