Government: "Itaewon Cluster Infection, Still Insufficient Grounds to Change School Attendance Schedule" (Update)

President Moon Jae-in is visiting Jungkyung High School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 8th, ahead of the school reopening scheduled for next week. <이미지:Yonhap News>

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Regarding the cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that occurred around Itaewon clubs, the government judged on the 10th that there is insufficient evidence to decide on changing the school attendance schedule. They clearly stated their policy to prioritize students' health and safety as before, and to make a decision after comprehensively evaluating the risk of this cluster infection based on the ongoing epidemiological investigation.

Park Neung-hoo, the 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19 (Minister of Health and Welfare), said at a briefing on the day, "It is still the early stage of the epidemiological investigation, so there are limitations in judging the impact of the Itaewon club infection on the student attendance schedule," adding, "It is difficult to make a decision immediately." He further stated that after observing how this cluster infection situation spreads and listening to opinions from frontline schools, a decision will be made as soon as possible.

Lee Sang-soo, Director of the Curriculum Policy Division at the Ministry of Education, said, "There has been no official request from city or provincial education offices to postpone school reopening," and added, "Regarding the recent situation, school quarantine measures are being prepared more thoroughly." He also said, "Regarding changes to the academic schedule for 3rd-year high school students, an epidemiological investigation is currently underway, and a risk assessment is being conducted, so we are carefully monitoring the situation while keeping various possibilities open and closely consulting with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters."

According to the government, school reopening will proceed sequentially starting with 3rd-year high school students on the 13th. Since the academic schedule cannot be delayed any further and the burden on parents has increased, the logic is that it is appropriate to prepare quarantine guidelines considering the school environment and proceed with attendance. However, since the government recently announced this plan, there has been public opinion questioning whether school reopening should be postponed again as COVID-19 cases originating from Itaewon clubs are increasing in densely populated areas such as Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in the metropolitan area.

Deputy Head Park said, "When we said we would transition to social distancing in daily life, it meant we were prepared to accept a certain level of risk," adding, "It does not mean starting school attendance or returning to normal social life in a completely flawless state, but accepting some degree of risk." He continued, "There may be various opinions on how much risk to accept, and the judgment may change depending on the ongoing epidemiological investigation related to the Itaewon clubs."

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