Last group of students back to school today

Students attend physical education class while wearing masks at Gwacheon High School in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, June 3, 2020. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Middle school freshmen and fifth and sixth grades of elementary school students are going back to school in the final phase of the government's planned reopening, Monday, even as the country has seen a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days.

According to the Ministry of Education, an estimated 1.35 million students begin their on-site classes today, 99 days after the delaying of their spring semester.

After a long closure imposed due to the new coronavirus, Korea allowed the phase-wise opening of schools when the virus spread appeared to come under control in early May. High school seniors returned on May 20, as they face a hectic academic schedule up until they sit for the country's college entrance exam, which is now scheduled to commence on Dec. 3. With the fourth and last group of students returning to school, a total of 5.95 million pupils are now attending regular classes.

According to the data from the education ministry, Friday, six students and four school officials have tested positive for the virus since May 20. As of 10 a.m. Friday, 514 schools, or 2.5 percent of the country's 20,902, are still closed as a precautionary measure.

During a regular briefing in response to the school reopening situation, Vice Education Minister Park Baeg-beom said schools seem to be less affected by COVID-19 than expected.

“None of them contracted the virus at school. They either found out they had been infected with the virus only after coming to school, or they showed symptoms at school and subsequently tested positive,” Park said.

To prevent the virus outbreak at schools, the ministry has allowed each school to run different quarantine policies including adjustments to student attendance, split sessions, reduced class time and a mix of online and on-site classes.

The education ministry said the biggest concern for the virus infection appeared to be hagwons, private cram schools. According to the ministry, 78 COVID-19 patients have been confirmed at 42 private institutes since February, while schools were closed for nearly three months to help contain the spread of the virus.

As the spread of COVID-19 shows no signs of abating in the metropolitan area, the ministry announced a plan to revise relevant laws to secure the legal grounds for sanctioning them if they violate quarantine rules.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 57 new cases Saturday, including 53 local infections, bringing the country's total to 11,776. It marked the highest number of daily infections since May 29 when 58 cases were reported.

Twenty-seven cases were detected in Seoul, while Incheon, west of Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province, near the capital, reported six and 19 cases, respectively, the KCDC said.

The recent spike of new cases is mainly associated with new clusters at table tennis club and via activities of a health product retailer Richway that specializes in door-to-door sales, mostly to the elderly. They are both based in Seoul.