In order to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the South Korean authorities have ordered online classes for the greater Seoul area. All preschools and schools in the cities of Seoul and Incheon and in the neighboring province of Gyeonggi should move their classes from the classrooms via the Internet to the children at home from tomorrow, the authorities said.
The order is initially valid until September 11th. Classroom lessons are only available for students in the last year so that they can prepare for their final exams as well as possible.
„The alarming occurrence of mass infections since August is reflected in infections of our students and employees,“ said Education Minister Yoo Eun Haen. In the past two weeks, almost 200 students and members of the school staff contracted the corona virus.
Requirements in Seoul repeatedly tightened
South Korea quickly got the first CoV wave under control in the spring and has become a global role model with its “follow up, test, treat” strategy. There are now a number of new sources of infection in the country.
In the greater Seoul area, where around half of South Korea’s 52 million inhabitants live, the CoV requirements have therefore been tightened repeatedly. Large gatherings were banned and risky places such as nightclubs and karaoke bars were closed.
Authorities reported 280 new cases in South Korea today. This meant that there was a three-digit number of new infections for the twelfth day in a row. With a total of 17,945 detected infections, South Korea has a rather low number of cases in an international comparison.
