August 13th 8th and 9th Grade Civil Service Exams Held... Examinees Must Wear Masks and Maintain Distance

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The 2020 Local Government Officials Grade 8 and 9 Open Competitive Recruitment Examination will be simultaneously held on the 13th at 593 test centers across 17 cities and provinces nationwide, including Seoul. Examinees must wear masks before entering the test site and undergo a temperature check. When using the restroom or leaving the test site, they must maintain sufficient distance from other examinees.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 9th that to ensure the safety of candidates amid the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the number of examinees per test room will be limited to 20 or fewer, down from the usual 30-person rooms. To this end, 593 test centers and 13,254 test rooms have been secured.

In some cities and provinces where securing additional test centers is difficult, the number of examinees per test room will not exceed 25. On the test day, seats of absent candidates will be rearranged to maximize the distance between examinees.

The total number of recruits for this local government officials Grade 8 and 9 open competitive examination is 23,211, with 240,531 applicants, resulting in an average competition ratio of 10.4 to 1.

Accordingly, under strengthened quarantine measures, the examination will be conducted with the top priority on safe administration, including disinfection of key facilities such as test rooms, corridors, and restrooms by professional companies before and after the exam. To strengthen quarantine management, each of the 17 cities and provinces will assign 11 quarantine officers per test center in addition to existing test staff to directly manage quarantine situations on-site.

Furthermore, to establish a COVID-19 management and cooperation system with related agencies, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, cities and provinces, public health centers, fire stations, and medical institutions will maintain an emergency contact system and respond immediately to any unusual situations.

All examinees will be pre-checked to see if they are subject to health authority management, such as confirmed cases, and those with suspicious symptoms among candidates are required to report in advance. Continuous monitoring will be conducted until the exam day.

If a candidate is subject to self-quarantine, they can apply in advance to take the exam at home or at a separately designated location, with appropriate measures taken according to the situation. Confirmed cases are not allowed to take the exam.

On the exam day, only examinees wearing masks will be allowed to enter the test site. After disinfecting with hand sanitizer provided at the entrance, they will undergo a temperature check using a non-contact thermometer before entering. If the temperature is 37.5℃ or higher, or if there are abnormal symptoms such as coughing during the temperature check, a retest will be conducted, and the examinee will take the exam separately in a standby test room. If the retest indicates a high risk of infection, the examinee will be immediately transferred to a public health center for necessary measures.

Examinees must wear masks even inside the test rooms and maintain a distance of at least 1.5 meters when waiting, such as when using restrooms. After the exam, examinees must follow the test supervisors' instructions to maintain a 1.5-meter distance and exit in an orderly, sequential manner.

Lee Jae-gwan, Director of the Local Autonomy and Decentralization Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "Since this is a large-scale exam conducted amid the COVID-19 situation, we will do our utmost to ensure thorough quarantine measures in cooperation with the 17 cities and provinces and quarantine authorities." He urged, "All examinees must strictly wear masks at the test site and comply with all precautions to prevent COVID-19."

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