One Week of Full In-Person Schooling: 1,090 Seoul Students Confirmed COVID-19 Positive... Cho Hee-yeon "Discussing Measures to Encourage Vaccination" (Comprehensive)

1,185 Students and Staff Confirmed Positive... 167 More Than Previous Week
In-School Infection Rate Drops from 23.5% to 18.8%
Ministry of Education Promotes Diverse Vaccination for Children and Adolescents Including School Visit Vaccinations
Cho Hee-yeon: "Will Consult with KDCA to Find Ways to Encourage Vaccination"
Retired Health Teachers Hired to Operate 'COVID-19 Epidemiological Investigation Support Team'

On the 22nd, when schools nationwide including the Seoul metropolitan area began full in-person classes, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon welcomed students at Geumyang Elementary School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. According to the "Step-by-step Recovery Plan for the Education Sector" announced by the Ministry of Education on the 29th of last month, from this day, 97% of kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools started full in-person classes. Overcrowded and densely populated schools adjusted attendance density through staggered attendance or limiting to two-thirds capacity. All first and second graders in elementary schools attend in person, over three-quarters of third to sixth graders attend, and two-thirds or more of middle and high school students attend in person. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] In the week following the implementation of full in-person classes, 1,090 students in the Seoul area tested positive for COVID-19. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to consult with health authorities to promote group vaccinations in order to increase vaccination rates among children and adolescents.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 30th, from the 22nd to the 28th, a total of 1,185 people were confirmed positive in Seoul, including 1,090 kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students, and 95 staff members. This is an increase of 167 compared to the previous week.

By educational institution, the numbers were ▲547 in elementary schools ▲319 in middle schools ▲146 in high schools ▲53 in kindergartens, with confirmed cases also reported in special schools (4) and other facilities (7). The infection routes were primarily family infections with 426 cases (36.0%), followed by infections outside school with 141 cases (11.9%), and infections within school with 223 cases (18.8%). Cases with unclear infection routes accounted for 395 (33.3%).

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "The proportion of in-school infections over the week slightly decreased compared to the previous week (23.5%), indicating that full in-person classes did not lead to an increase in in-school infections."

Han Man-jung, Policy and Safety Planning Officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, explained, "There were concerns that promoting full in-person classes would increase the rate of in-school infections, but schools have established a quarantine system over the past year and a half, and it is judged that full in-person classes are not contributing to an increase in confirmed cases."

Since the implementation of full in-person classes, 96% of the 1,311 schools in Seoul have conducted in-person classes. As of the 29th, 86.5% of students in Seoul attended in-person classes.

Following the joint announcement by related ministries on the previous day regarding the 'Medical and Quarantine Follow-up Measures for the Gradual Recovery of Daily Life from COVID-19,' education and quarantine authorities stated they would introduce vaccination centers and school visit vaccinations to increase vaccination rates among children and adolescents. For high school seniors (Grade 12), vaccinations were conducted collectively at schools, and similarly, for ages 12 to 17, they plan to diversify vaccination routes by selecting entrusted institutions or conducting school visit vaccinations.

Regarding this, Superintendent Cho said, "We will soon consult with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and others to find ways to encourage more active vaccination than now," adding, "We will not reach the stage of confirming vaccination status at the school level."

Superintendent Cho also said, "Provincial and metropolitan superintendents have suggested creating conditions to actively recommend or promote vaccinations at the school level," and "The government policy has actively shifted, and we will discuss how to encourage vaccinations accordingly within the next day or two."

Since the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education does not have autonomy regarding vaccination of children and adolescents, it plans to focus on information delivery and strengthening quarantine measures. Oh Jeong-hoon, Director of Physical Education, Health, Culture, and Arts at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "Although epidemiological investigations are the responsibility of public health centers, the burden tends to be shifted to schools, so we plan to assign health support instructors to carefully manage epidemiological investigations and reduce the workload of health teachers."

The Office of Education plans to hire 20 retired health teachers to operate a 'COVID-19 Response Epidemiological Investigation Support Team' until the end of the year for student quarantine and health management. They will assign instructors to support work for up to 8 hours a day and a maximum of 2 days at 100 elementary, middle, high, and special schools.

The youth quarantine pass will be discussed later while monitoring the infection situation and vaccination status of children and adolescents. Superintendent Cho also said, "If implemented independently, confusion may arise, so we will proceed in cooperation with quarantine authorities."

Additionally, until the end of the year, they will operate PCR proactive testing through mobile specimen collection teams at educational facilities and conduct on-site quarantine inspections at PC rooms, karaoke rooms, study cafes, and sports facilities frequently used by students outside of school.