Gwangju City to Lift Childcare Center Closures Starting June 1

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 31st that it will lift the closure of daycare centers starting from the 1st of next month.

This measure follows the Ministry of Health and Welfare's nationwide notification to lift daycare center closures, and going forward, local governments will decide on opening or closing based on the level of infection in their respective regions.

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the closure period of daycare centers has been extended, increasing the caregiving burden on guardians. As a result, the emergency childcare usage rate in Gwangju stood at 86.7% (as of May 28), significantly higher than the national average of 72.7%.

Accordingly, Gwangju City has been continuously conducting on-site inspections, including special disinfection of daycare centers, in preparation for lifting the closures.

Additionally, the city has supported daycare centers with disinfection supplies purchase costs, hand sanitizers, and 81,576 masks for infants, toddlers, and childcare teachers. It has also fully subsidized infant and toddler (institutional) childcare fees regardless of attendance (usage) days and fully supported city-funded meal expenses.

For daycare centers where the number of enrolled children decreased compared to March, childcare fees and Nuri operation expenses were paid based on the number of children from March to May, to be used for childcare teachers' salaries.

Even after reopening, daycare centers must continue to comply with basic quarantine guidelines.

In particular, children and childcare staff with fever or respiratory symptoms must rest at home and adhere to social distancing and quarantine rules in daily life.

Those with fever, respiratory symptoms, or who have visited places with group outbreaks are not allowed to attend daycare or come to work.

Health status checks for staff and temperature checks for children and staff are conducted twice daily, and programs are operated focusing on individual play rather than group play.

Furthermore, teaching materials and tools are disinfected once daily, frequently touched items such as door handles are disinfected regularly, and windows and entrances are frequently opened for periodic ventilation.

If a symptomatic child is identified among enrolled children, they are temporarily isolated within the daycare center, and guardians are immediately contacted to pick them up. If the guardian agrees, a teacher accompanies the child to a hospital or public health center for medical examination.

If a confirmed case or contact occurs among enrolled children or childcare staff, the affected daycare center will be immediately temporarily closed (entry prohibited).

Moreover, measures such as special activities, mask-wearing standards, and air conditioning usage standards are supplemented to ensure thorough quarantine management within childcare facilities.

If special activities are unavoidably conducted, they must comply with quarantine rules with guardian consent, prohibit cross-use of items, and submit and verify the movement paths of external instructors.

Mask-wearing by children in daycare centers is not mandatory but is recommended during group or outdoor activities. When operating air conditioning, ventilation should be done every two hours, and more frequently when the density is high.

In this regard, Gwangju City plans to continuously monitor the quarantine situation in daycare centers going forward.