Schools in greater Seoul area ordered to shift to online until Sept. 11 amid virus resurgence
A medical worker holds a portable fan during the sweltering heat at a makeshift clinic at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. AP
South Korean pupils in Seoul and its surrounding areas will return to full remote learning, starting Wednesday, as the country has lately experienced a resurgence of the novel coronavirus and concerns are growing over school safety.
The Ministry of Education announced Tuesday that all school kids, including those in kindergartens, in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province will stay at home and take online classes until Sept. 11, as a preemptive measure to slow the spread of the highly infectious virus.
The emergency policy, announced in a joint briefing by the ministry and the education offices of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, does not apply to high school seniors, who are scheduled to take the national university entrance exam in early December.
Small-size schools of less than 60 students and special education schools are given autonomy in whether to follow the ministry's instruction.
The sharp policy reversal is a response to what health authorities described as the biggest crisis yet since the pandemic began early this year.
Over the past two weeks, 150 students and 43 teachers and faculty members have tested positive for the virus in the greater Seoul area.
The country, once seen as having successfully tamed the virus, has reported infection cases in the triple digits since mid-August, a rate that has alarmed the ministry, which believed in-person learning at school was possible even during the pandemic if thorough anti-virus measures were enforced.
Amid a spike in new infections, a record number of 1,845 schools halted in-person classes Monday, more than double the previous record of 849 from Friday. Some schools shut down as a preemptive measure.
Of the total, 40 percent were located in the greater Seoul area, with 148 in Seoul, 422 in Gyeonggi Province and 167 in Incheon.
The country carefully instituted a phased reopening of schools, starting May 20, amid a slowdown in new cases. Since then, 283 students and 70 faculty members and teachers have tested positive for the virus.
The government on Saturday expanded the Level Two guidelines of the three-tier system around the country, as COVID-19 cases were confirmed in all of the country's 17 major cities and provinces, a grim sign that the country might have entered a national epidemic. Previously, it had been imposed in the greater Seoul area.
When Level Three is enforced, all schools nationwide are required to switch to remote learning.
The ministry said it will decide whether to further extend the measure after closely monitoring the spread of the virus until Sept. 11.
The policy for the rest of the region remains the same, with attendance capped at one-third in elementary and middle schools and two-thirds in high schools, and with schools offering a mix of in-person and remote instruction. (Yonhap)