O Se-hoon Advocates for Self-Test Kits in Schools... Yoo Eun-hye Says "Premature"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye is speaking at an expert meeting to strengthen school quarantine measures held at the Government Seoul Office on the 15th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye expressed opposition to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's policy to introduce COVID-19 self-test kits in schools.

On the 15th, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo presided over an expert advisory meeting at the Government Seoul Office to strengthen COVID-19 school quarantine measures and stated, "(Self-test kits) have significant controversy regarding test accuracy and could potentially cause confusion in school quarantine, so they must be judged very carefully."

She continued, "Procedural approval for self-test kits has not been granted in reality, so it is premature to decide to apply them in schools first."

Mayor Oh raised the idea of using self-test kits as a quarantine measure for universities and schools at the Cabinet meeting on the 13th, and the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced the day before that they would consider using self-test kits in schools. In this context, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo, head of the Ministry of Education, expressed a negative stance, saying it could cause confusion in school quarantine.

Regarding self-test kits, while they have the advantage of convenience and speed as the tester can collect the specimen directly, there is also the drawback of low sensitivity in accurately distinguishing positive individuals as positive and negative individuals as negative.

Opposition voices have also come from teacher organizations. The Seoul Teachers' Union issued a statement the day before clearly opposing the introduction of self-test kits.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo supported the opposition by saying, "I think a lot of review and consultation with school sites and experts are necessary."

However, as Seoul City announced in a briefing on the same day that it would prioritize a pilot project for COVID-19 self-test kits in schools, the conflict between the Ministry of Education and Seoul City is expected to escalate.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo emphasized that she is closely monitoring the recent consecutive infections within schools.

In the Daejeon area, starting with a confirmed case of a private academy instructor this month, 74 people across 18 schools tested positive for COVID-19. Cases of more than 10 confirmed patients in a single school have also been reported in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, and Sejong.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said, "The Ministry of Education is taking recent cases very seriously and is closely monitoring the situation," adding, "We will manage it well to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible."

She added, "We have shared cases with 17 regional education offices nationwide by analyzing infection routes and risk factors with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and we are emphasizing strict compliance with school quarantine guidelines," and "We are actively reviewing more mid- to long-term alternatives for school quarantine."