Health Authorities: "Will Review In-Person Classes After Detailed Assessment of Infection Risk in Elementary Schools"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] With the start of the new school year just over a month away, health authorities have announced plans to assess the risk of COVID-19 infection among lower-grade elementary school students and younger children.

On the 23rd, Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, responded to a question about preparations for in-person classes during a regular briefing, saying, "We will actively engage in detailed risk assessments and discussions on prevention strategies."

Deputy Head Kwon referred to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun’s directive to the Ministry of Education to review plans for the new semester’s in-person classes, stating, "Health authorities will also consult with education officials and relevant experts."

He continued, "According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report on COVID-19 occurrences in schools, children and adolescents make up about 30% of the global population, but only about 8% of COVID-19 cases. This indicates that the scale of transmission and infectivity are relatively lower in children under 10 years old, according to the WHO."

Deputy Head Kwon added, "However, within this data, there is a note that adolescents, especially those aged 16 to 18, corresponding to middle and high school students in Korea, have more cluster outbreak cases compared to elementary schools." He further explained, "In conclusion, the WHO has stated that except in situations where prevention measures are not properly followed in schools, schools?particularly elementary schools?have not become major environments for large-scale cluster infections."

Earlier, health authorities published a paper in the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases emphasizing that the effect of school closures to suppress COVID-19 transmission is minimal and that the social burden caused by such measures is significant.

The paper, co-authored by Jeong Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, investigated 127 confirmed COVID-19 cases among children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 from May 1 to July 12 last year, after in-person classes resumed. The study found that only 3 patients (2.4%) were infected within schools. Regarding the infection routes of the remaining patients, 59 (46.5%) were infected by family members or relatives, 18 (14.2%) through private academies or tutoring, and 8 (6.3%) via multi-use facilities such as coin karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and churches.

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