Schools In South Korea Reopen

 

Students in South Korea have resumed school activities on Wednesday, as schools have begun opening their gates to receive students, after a two-month shutdown.

Before being allowed into the school campuses, students were made to stand in line to wash their hands, use hand sanitisers, and check their temperatures.

A student who was pleased to be back at school said to AFP, “It’s really exciting to meet my friends and teachers face to face, but we have to strictly follow the disinfection guidelines.

“I am very worried but it’s still nice to see them again.”

South Korea was once the second worst-hit country, just behind China, at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, but its effective control of the virus, and its “trace, test and treat” initiative stemmed the spread of the virus, allowing the government of the country to reopen its critical sectors.

The opening of schools will not happen at once, as the only students allowed back into classrooms are final-year students who are to sit for their university entrance exams. 

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Students in other classes will resume weeks after.

Taking preventive measures a step further in classrooms, students are made to sit a few feet apart, with respect to the practice of social distancing, with some classes putting up partitions between desks.

Some 66 schools in the county's capital of Seoul were closed shortly after reopening after two students who were sent home from school tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

The country's Minister of Education, Yoo Eun-Hae, said, “Concerns over small infection clusters still remain and no one can predict what kind of situation will arise at schools."

He added that any school with a confirmed case will be immediately shut down.