North Korea Delays School Break Again Due to COVID... Can't Ride Bus Without Mask

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pyongyang General Hospital on the 17th, Chosun Central TV reported on the 18th. The photo, released by Chosun Central TV that afternoon, shows Chairman Kim wearing a black leather jacket and giving a speech without a mask.

North Korea, which is making an all-out effort to respond to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is further postponing school reopening and intensifying quarantine measures, such as mandating mask-wearing when using public transportation.

The Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, on the 19th introduced the content of the directive titled "Thoroughly Establish Measures to Prevent the Novel Coronavirus Infection on Public Transportation," which the North Korean authorities recently issued nationwide regarding the use of public transportation.

According to this directive, train, subway, trolleybus, tram, bus, and taxi crew members are not allowed to board passengers who are not wearing masks.

In particular, for long-distance buses, passengers' temperatures are measured at ticket gates or entrances, and those with a fever of 37 degrees Celsius or higher are prohibited from boarding.

Passengers must disinfect their hands with disinfectant, and crew members must wear medical masks and gloves. The principle is to discard disposable gloves after use without reuse.

Emergency areas are to be set up in the rear seats of passenger trains and long-distance buses to temporarily isolate suspected patients if they appear.

After each operation, public transportation vehicles are to be cleaned with chlorine-based disinfectants on steering wheels, handrails, seats, floors, and other surfaces. Textile items such as seat covers are washed once a week, and ventilation must also be carefully maintained.

The education sector is also experiencing confusion due to COVID-19. The school reopening, which was postponed once to prevent infection, has been delayed repeatedly.

On the 27th of last month, North Korea's state media, Korean Central News Agency, announced that "students' vacations have been extended to prevent the spread of the infection in advance."

On the 13th of this month, Rodong Sinmun reported, "As students' vacations have been further extended..." indicating that the vacation period has been postponed again.

The Ministry of Unification explained, "(North Korea) has further extended the vacation but did not specify until when exactly it has been extended."

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Unification, North Korea adopts a 12-year compulsory education system, consisting of 2 years of kindergarten (lower class 1 year, upper class 1 year), 5 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior middle school, 3 years of senior middle school, and 4 to 6 years of university. Among these, from the upper kindergarten class (1 year) to senior middle school (3 years) corresponds to the 12-year compulsory education system.

The school opening date is April 1, and the summer vacation period is from mid-July to mid-August. The winter vacation lasts from late December to late January or mid-February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.