Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Conducts COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing for All Students and Staff at Hampyeong Elementary School

First Grade at the Elementary School to Continue Remote Classes Until the 13th... Other Classes Until the 6th

Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Education for Jeonnam, held an emergency briefing following the confirmation of three COVID-19 cases in a family from Hampyeong, including an elementary school student. Photo by Jeonnam Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Jeonnam Office of Education, held an emergency briefing on the 1st regarding the occurrence of three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a family in Hampyeong, including an elementary school student.

On that day, Superintendent Jang Seok-woong, together with Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok, held an emergency briefing at the Jeonnam Provincial Office in the morning and stated, “A first-grade student at Hampyeong Elementary School was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on the 31st of last month and has entered isolation treatment,” adding, “The school has decided to switch to remote classes to prevent further spread of infection.”

The Hampyeong Elementary student, known as the 10th confirmed case among Jeonnam students, visited the home of their great-uncle in Gyeonggi Province (Pyeongtaek case number 140) on the 24th of last month. While asymptomatic, the student attended in-person classes at school from the 26th to the 30th and also took classes at three academies within Hampyeong.

Accordingly, the Jeonnam Office of Education conducted diagnostic tests over two days, on the 31st of last month and the 1st of this month, for all 484 students and staff at Hampyeong Elementary School. Additionally, 81 students from 10 schools within Hampyeong, identified as having contact with the 10th confirmed Jeonnam student at local academies, were also tested.

Furthermore, the first-grade class at Hampyeong Elementary School will switch to remote learning for two weeks from the 2nd to the 13th, and the remaining classes and grades will switch to remote learning for one week starting from the 2nd.

All 28 kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, and special schools in the Hampyeong area will switch to remote classes for one day on the 2nd, after which the extension of this measure will be decided through meetings with school principals and consultations with local quarantine authorities.

However, considering the upcoming college entrance exam (CSAT) scheduled in about a month, high schools will continue in-person classes normally but will strengthen quarantine measures.

In addition, emergency disinfection was carried out at all schools in Hampyeong, and 16 academies in the Hampyeong area were strongly advised to close until further notice. Special focus will also be placed on intensive disinfection and lifestyle guidance for multi-use facilities around the areas where confirmed or suspected cases have occurred, such as PC rooms, coin karaoke rooms, and cafes.

Superintendent Jang said, “The Office of Education will strengthen cooperation with related organizations such as Jeonnam Province and the local community to do its utmost to prevent additional confirmed cases,” and added, “Especially, we will devote all administrative efforts to ensure that high school seniors can safely take the CSAT, which is about a month away.”

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