From March, unvaccinated cohabitants of confirmed cases will no longer quarantine for 7 days... Schools from March 14

Unvaccinated Household Contacts of Confirmed Cases Shift from Self-Quarantine to Passive Monitoring
Schools Granted 2-Week Grace Period for New Semester Adjustment

On the 25th, citizens are waiting for tests at the temporary COVID-19 screening site in front of Seoul City Hall. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as of midnight on the same day, the number of new confirmed cases increased by 165,890, bringing the total to 2,665,077. Photo by Moohnam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Starting March 1, unvaccinated cohabitants of COVID-19 confirmed cases will no longer be required to quarantine for 7 days and can instead switch to passive monitoring. Considering the adjustment period at the beginning of the semester, this guideline will be applied to students and faculty members starting March 14.

On the 25th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 held a video conference at the Seoul Government Complex with central government ministries and 17 local governments to discuss improvements to home treatment measures.

From April 1, the quarantine system will be improved so that cohabitants of confirmed cases will switch to 10 days of passive monitoring regardless of vaccination status. They must undergo one PCR test within 3 days and a rapid antigen test on the 7th day.

However, schools were deemed to require strict quarantine measures at the start of the semester, so this guideline will be applied exceptionally from March 14. If a cohabitant is confirmed positive, unvaccinated individuals must quarantine for 7 days until March 14.

According to the school quarantine guidelines announced by the Ministry of Education on the 7th, if a family member living together is confirmed positive, vaccinated individuals will undergo passive monitoring, while unvaccinated individuals must quarantine for 7 days. If the cohabitant is a close contact, both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can attend school without quarantine.

If a student is confirmed positive, they must quarantine for 7 days regardless of vaccination status. If they are a close contact, vaccinated students can attend school under passive monitoring, but unvaccinated students must refrain from attending school for 7 days.

When a confirmed case occurs at school, symptomatic individuals or high-risk contacts with underlying conditions must receive a PCR test at a screening clinic with a school principal’s recommendation letter and may attend school if the result is negative. As for asymptomatic contacts identified through the school’s own investigation, they must conduct rapid antigen tests at home, medical institutions, or screening clinics at least three times over 7 days and may attend school if all results are negative.

From the new semester, health masks (KF80 or higher) must be worn, and schools will check mask-wearing status upon attendance. After completing a 7-day quarantine, individuals must wear a KF94 (or equivalent) mask for 3 days upon release.

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