Ministry of Education Announces Detailed Guidelines for Indoor Mask Removal
Classes Can Now Be Held Without Masks in Classrooms
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Starting from the 30th, the indoor mask-wearing mandate will be lifted, but students using school buses and similar transportation must continue to wear masks.
On the 29th, the Ministry of Education announced detailed guidelines to be applied in schools and academies following the lifting of the indoor mask mandate.
Earlier, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) decided to lift the indoor mask mandate from the 30th, allowing students to attend classes in school classrooms or academies without masks for the first time in about three years since the outbreak of COVID-19.
When conducting physical education classes in indoor gymnasiums, masks are not required if the situation does not involve significant droplet generation.
However, students must still wear masks when using school buses or academy buses. This reflects the continued mask mandate on public transportation even after the indoor mask mandate is lifted.
Accordingly, students must wear masks when using group buses related to school commuting, academy attendance, school trips, or field experience activities. Staff driving school buses or group buses must also wear masks. Failure to comply may result in fines under the "Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act."
According to CDSCH guidelines, indoor mask-wearing is strongly recommended if △ there are suspected COVID-19 symptoms such as sore throat, cough, runny nose, or fever, or if the individual belongs to a high-risk group △ the person has contact with someone showing suspected COVID-19 symptoms or belonging to a high-risk group △ the person has recently been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case (within two weeks from the date of contact).
Additionally, the Ministry of Education has specified that indoor mask-wearing is strongly recommended in spaces where ventilation is difficult and maintaining a physical distance of 1 meter from others is challenging. This guideline applies not only to classroom lessons but also to field trips and school excursions.
The Ministry also advises that indoor mask-wearing is strongly recommended in cases such as △ choir classes held in classrooms or auditoriums △ situations in indoor gymnasium spectator seats where maintaining a 1-meter physical distance is difficult and there is frequent droplet generation due to group cheering △ singing school songs or the national anthem at indoor events such as entrance or graduation ceremonies △ and other situations where many people are densely gathered indoors and droplet-generating activities are frequent, as deemed necessary by the school principal.
Even inside indoor gymnasiums, athletes participating in games are not required to wear masks.
In cases where indoor mask-wearing is strongly recommended, there is no legal binding force, and no separate fines will be imposed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education plans to provide additional guidance on "School Quarantine Guidelines," which include self-diagnosis applications, school disinfection, and ventilation measures, before the start of the new semester.
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