Concerns over virus infection growing among CSAT takers

Quarantine officials disinfect a study cafe in Gwangju, Thursday, as the government launched a two-week special disease control campaign aimed at creating a safe environment for college entrance exam takers. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Parents and students show growing anxiety over the recent surge in COVID-19 cases as the state-run college entrance exam is only two weeks away.

The government launched a special quarantine period, Thursday, for two weeks until the date of College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), scheduled for Dec. 3, to reduce the possibility of virus infections among the 493,000 students who will take the test. The measure came as the number of COVID-19 infections has been rising recently and the nation adopted strengthened social distancing regulations in Seoul and some other parts of the country.

But the key question is whether the stricter distancing rules and the special quarantine measures will have any effect within two weeks.

Recently, on a number of the internet community and social media channels, high school seniors have shown their anxiety over the recent increasing trend of the virus and the sporadic occurrences of confirmed cases in schools across the country. They fear they may get infected before the test and fail the exam.

On an online community at a portal site that many test takers subscribe to, one user wrote that there were 300 new confirmed patients for Tuesday, saying, “It seems the CSAT schedule will not be delayed again, although the virus situation here is clearly deteriorating.”

The education authorities had decided in late March, when the country was hit by the first wave of the pandemic, to postpone the exam, originally slated for Nov. 19, to Dec. 3.

Another high school senior wrote, “I heard there was a confirmed patient in an elementary school where my younger brother attends. I'm worried that my brother might have come into contact with the confirmed patient.”

Anxiety is also growing among parents. Although schools and private cram schools are advised to close a week before the CSAT, they said they are still worried over possible virus infections right before the test day, the biggest academic event of the year.

“My son feels uneasy about whatever the education ministry does,” said a 41-year-old mother of a high school senior living in Yangcheon District in Seoul, who wished to be identified only by her surname Lee.

“When schools or private academies are closed, my son has to find other places to study, such as a reading room or study cafe, but we're worried whether he has to go to such places or stay home.”

The Ministry of Education promised to make all efforts to ensure students will take the exam safely, confirming there will be no more delays of the test.

“We only have two weeks left and the CSAT is not an easy test to postpone again,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a meeting with education superintendents from around the country Wednesday. “We have been preparing for such a situation in cooperation with regional education offices, making sure the CSAT will proceed without any hindrance.”

The ministry has prepared separate testing rooms where up to 120 infected students can take the test, and another 750 rooms for those who are under self-quarantine following contact with confirmed patients.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), there were 343 coronavirus infections for Wednesday, including 293 local cases, raising the total caseload to 29,654.

Among the locally transmitted cases, 107 were reported in Seoul, 59 in Gyeonggi Province and 11 in Incheon. Two additional deaths were reported, raising the total death toll to 498, with a fatality rate of 1.68 percent.