Seoul City Daycare Centers to Reopen Nationwide on April 1

129 Days After Closure in November Last Year... 5,228 Daycare Centers Across Seoul Operating Normally
Pre-Opening COVID-19 Testing Recommended for All Childcare Staff and One Member per Child Household

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] All daycare centers across Seoul will reopen and resume normal operations starting next month on the 1st.

On the 25th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will lift the closure order imposed on a total of 5,228 daycare centers, including public, private, and workplace facilities. This comes 129 days after the closure order was issued on November 24 of last year.

Seoul plans to minimize infection risks through strict quarantine measures while alleviating the childcare burden on guardians, which has been increasing due to the prolonged closure, as the attendance rate has reached 87% through emergency care provided under compliance with quarantine rules even during the closure period.

To ensure the safety of approximately 250,000 children and childcare staff at daycare centers, Seoul had proactively ordered the closure of all daycare centers in the city on February 25 last year. After the COVID-19 spread intensified again from October 19 last year, the closure order was reissued on November 24. Even during the closure, emergency childcare was operated with a focus on preventing COVID-19 spread by enforcing principles such as banning external visitors, prohibiting special activities, and maintaining social distancing within daycare centers, minimizing cluster infections. However, the prolonged closure imposed many restrictions on normal childcare activities and daycare center operations.

Ahead of the full reopening, Seoul recommended that all childcare staff and one guardian per enrolled child at all daycare centers undergo preemptive testing before reopening. Following the preemptive testing of childcare staff, 99.1% of the targeted individuals completed testing, and 15 asymptomatic confirmed cases were detected early. By February 19, 69% of guardians from emergency childcare families had completed preemptive testing, leading to the early detection of 6 asymptomatic confirmed cases.

Additionally, reflecting the voices from the childcare field, special activities conducted by external professional instructors are now permitted; however, these instructors must undergo preemptive testing and visit the daycare centers only after confirming a negative result. Teaching materials and tools used in special activities are thoroughly disinfected, and activities are principally centered on individual play. If a special activity instructor shows symptoms such as fever or other abnormalities, they must immediately report to the respective daycare center, and the situation is shared with other daycare centers along the instructor’s movement path to enable a swift response.

A “Daycare Center Arrival to Departure Quarantine Guidelines” chart specifying the quarantine rules to be followed at each time slot within daycare centers was also created and distributed. Quarantine supplies worth 1.6 billion KRW, including disinfectant devices and thermal cameras, were provided as tailored support. Since the end of February, Seoul has been inspecting compliance with quarantine rules at 213 daycare centers with 100 or more enrolled children and directly listening to the voices from the childcare field to monitor the reopening preparations.

Song Da-young, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Women and Family Policy Office, stated, “Daycare centers in Seoul, which had been closed due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, will fully reopen after 129 days and resume normal childcare activities. We will make quarantine compliance a daily practice through organic cooperation between daycare centers and guardians so that guardians feel that daycare centers are as safe as their own homes.”

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