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Seniors at Kyungbock High School in Seoul greet each other by bumping elbows on the morning of May 20. (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

Several schools in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province closed their doors on May 20, the first day of third-year high school students returning to classes. The measures provided confirmation that many schools may decide to suspend on-campus classes immediately amid growing community transmissions of the novel coronavirus, even if no one at the school is diagnosed with or suspected of having the virus. At the same time, the issue of class suspension is expected to cause inevitable confusion on the ground as principals are able to make the determination on their own authority.

“Suspension of the reopening of schools may differ [in scope] by region, school, and class depending on the situation in terms of things like epidemiological findings. Educational authorities make the decisions in consultation with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [KCDC],” the Ministry of Education (MOE) explained in a briefing that afternoon.

Initially, the Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education had planned to postpone the reopening of a school where students were diagnosed with COVID-19 and two nearby schools by one day. But concerns subsequently emerged over the large numbers of places visited by the diagnosed students and people who had been in contact with them, as well as difficulties encountered in contact tracing. On this basis, the measure was abruptly expanded into a suspension of the reopening of all 66 schools in the five districts where the students had traveled.

For now, the plan is to conduct online classes for the rest of the week, and decide on May 22 as to whether to restart school, based on the test results for students who came into contact with the patients as well as students who used the same facilities as the patients. The National United Achievement Test, scheduled for third-year high school students on May 21, should be conducted online. The inability to calculate scores at the national level could lead to a debate over the suspension of on-campus classes resulting in disadvantages.

In Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, schools closed at the local level despite having no diagnosed or suspected cases of the virus. On the previous day, an adult resident of the city who had been in contact with another patient connected to an Itaewon club-based infection cluster tested positive. The Anseong Office of Education and all nine high schools in the area decided to forego reopening schools on May 20. The basis for this decision was concern about possible transmission to students due to insufficient contact tracing on the diagnosed resident. Third-year high school students in Anseong, however, are scheduled to take the National United Achievement Test on May 21 -- with the exam to be administered in a separate location only for those students who live in the same apartment complex as the diagnosed resident.

At other schools, the first day of classes unfolded amid a tense atmosphere as strict disease prevention rules were observed. Students are required to wear masks all day as they attend classes, follow prescribed routes, and undergo periodic temperature checks. Some measures implemented for “distancing” purposes included placing larger-sized testing desks within classrooms and staggering lunch times.

Other methods used included having some students attending classes from hallways in cases where classroom space was limited, and splitting classes up so that half of the students watched lectures on video. Some students are not reporting to schools at all for disease prevention purposes. In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, 199 students did not attend school because they self-diagnosed themselves as having possible symptoms beforehand.

As a rule, any student who shows possible coronavirus symptoms such as fever or respiratory issues after arriving at school is to be immediately transported to a screening clinic. Transportation from the school to the clinic is provided by a 119 (South Korea’s emergency services number) ambulance. According to the National Fire Agency, 127 students nationwide were taken to a screening clinic that day when they exhibited possible coronavirus symptoms while attending school. Among them, 107 had samples taken for testing. By city/province, the largest number was 21 in Gyeonggi Province, followed by 20 in Gwangju, 12 in North Gyeongsang Province, 10 in South Jeolla Province, seven in Incheon, six each in South Gyeongsang Province and North Jeolla Province, and four in Seoul. Four students with severe symptoms were taken to hospitals, while 78 with mild symptoms were taken home.

By Choi Won-hyung, staff reporter, Lee Jung-ha, Incheon correspondent, and Hong Yong-duk, South Gyeonggi correspondent

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