People's Daily, Seoul, June 2 (Li Meiyu, Pei Yangji) In late February, a large-scale collective infection broke out in South Korea, and the number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia surged. The cumulative number of confirmed cases in the country once ranked second in the world.
South Korea's epidemic prevention department decisively took various prevention and control measures, followed the principles of early detection and early isolation, and conducted extensive testing of close contacts, specific groups and residents in areas with concentrated epidemics. The spread of the epidemic was quickly controlled and normal social life was gradually restored.
Picture description: Students from a middle school in Seoul are queuing back to school in a long queue. Photo by Pei Yangji
South Korea has entered the "life epidemic prevention stage" and schools at all levels resume classes in turn
Since May, the epidemic in South Korea has stabilized. On May 6, South Korea entered the "life epidemic prevention stage" in which daily life and epidemic prevention work were parallel. Senior high school students will be the first to return to school on May 20, and classes will resume in turn on May 27. Considering the approaching college entrance examination and the difficulties of children from both working families staying alone, the South Korean Ministry of Education decided to give priority to students of senior high school and lower grades to return to school. Students must wear masks and undergo fever tests during school. The school also requires that desks be placed at a certain distance, classrooms need to be regularly ventilated, and students should try to minimize group activities.
Picture description: Schools at all levels in South Korea resume classes in turn. Photo by Pei Yeji
South Korea's Ministry of Education stipulates that primary school students can return to school more than once a week. According to the instructions issued by various education departments, most Korean primary schools have adopted measures to resume classes for one day and online teaching for the remaining four days.
In addition, South Korea has adopted "the next week and the next day" and "the last afternoon and the last" methods of resuming classes. Schools can take flexible measures based on actual conditions and attend classes at different times in a time period to reduce student density. The South Korean Ministry of Education believes that by adopting various decentralized management methods such as regulating the number of students returning to school, the risk of students being infected with the new coronavirus can be reduced to a certain extent.
The epidemic rebounded in the capital circle. The government took multiple measures to prevent risks
However, the epidemic in South Korea has rebounded recently. During the Korean Labor Day and Children's Day holidays, on May 2, a 29-year-old Korean man went to several nightclubs in Itaewon, Seoul, causing cluster infection. At the same time, on May 25, a staff member from an e-commerce logistics warehouse in South Korea was diagnosed with the new crown, causing collective infection in the logistics warehouse. As of now, the number of relevant confirmed cases has reached 112, which has attracted widespread attention from the whole society.
Picture description: Entertainment venues such as singing rooms are closed. Photo by Bae Yeon-ki
As the number of confirmed cases related to nightclubs and singing rooms continues to increase, the South Korean government announced that it will suspend the opening of museums and art galleries and other public facilities in the Capital Circle (Seoul City, Incheon City, Incheon City, Gyeonggi-do ) until June 14. It is also recommended that Internet cafes, singing rooms, cram schools, etc. in the Capital Circle will also be suspended for two weeks.
Picture description: Passengers must wear masks when taking public transportation in Seoul. Photo by Pei Yangji
The South Korean government stipulates that passengers must wear masks when taking subways, buses, planes and other public transportation. The flight attendant can conduct a direct inspection of the passengers, and the driver has the right to refuse to carry passengers who do not wear masks.
There are collective infections in the metropolitan area, and more than 500 schools have postponed the resumption of classes
The South Korean Central Epidemic Prevention Headquarters reported on June 2 that as of 0:00 local time on the 2nd, South Korea had 38 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia compared with 0:00 on the 1st, of which 36 were community infections, all of which occurred in the metropolitan area, with a total of 11,541 confirmed cases.
Affected by this, the South Korean Ministry of Education urgently announced that 534 primary and secondary schools will suspend and postpone the resumption time, of which 99% are schools located in the capital area. According to the original plan, students in the first year of high school, second year of junior high school and third and fourth grades of primary school will return to school on June 3.
Sun Yinglai, spokesperson of the South Korean Central Emergency Response Headquarters, introduced at a regular press conference held on the same day that the number of cases related to church infections in the capital circle continues to increase, and the symptoms of some confirmed patients are not obvious, and it is difficult to be detected in the early stages of the infection.
Sun Yinglai stressed that the epidemic is spreading rapidly with religious facilities in the capital circle as the center, and the possibility of large-scale collective infection cannot be ruled out. Sun Yinglai also said that epidemic prevention is not a preferred option, but a necessary option, and called on the public to abide by epidemic prevention rules in daily life.
