"Is It Okay to Send Kids to School?" Anxious Parents Even After Quarantine Rules Are Lifted

Testing Criteria for Family Confirmed Cases Based Only on 'First Confirmed Patient'
Ambiguity in 3- and 7-Day Testing Criteria for Sequential Confirmed Cases

On the 13th, when 351,90 new COVID-19 cases were reported, citizens visiting the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza, where daily cases have been in the 300,000 range, are waiting to get tested. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] From the 14th, even if a cohabiting family member tests positive, all students and staff who test negative can attend school, but parents remain anxious. Although testing on the 3rd and 7th days from the first confirmed family case is recommended, the criteria for additional confirmed cases remain unclear.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the number of student COVID-19 cases in Seoul from the 7th to the 10th was 37,190, more than double the 15,337 cases during the first week of school (February 28 to March 3). On the 12th alone, daily confirmed cases exceeded 380,000, and as of the 13th, the proportion of confirmed cases under 19 years old rose to 25.99%.

With the surge in confirmed cases and changes to attendance criteria when a cohabiting family member tests positive, some households are responding by applying for home study or leaving school without eating school meals, regardless of the new criteria. Meanwhile, some parents want their children to attend school according to the revised standards to help them adjust to the new semester.

In households without confirmed family cases, there are also parents hoping for a switch to remote classes due to concerns about increased infection risk. A parent of an elementary school student said, "If a family member tests positive, relay infections are highly likely, but since both teachers and students can attend school without quarantine, chaos is expected starting this week."

The health authorities and Ministry of Education have shifted to passive monitoring when a cohabiting family member tests positive, requiring a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test within three days and a rapid antigen test on the 6th to 7th day. This standard is based on the first confirmed case, and even if chain infections occur, only the initial case date is used as the reference. Although health authorities recommend testing every two days, this has not been properly communicated to parents.

A Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education official said, "Even if chain infections occur, the reference is the date of the first confirmed case, and since the two-day interval testing is only a 'recommendation,' only anxious parents continue testing, and without symptoms, testing cannot be enforced, causing confusion. The criteria keep changing frequently, making autonomous judgment very difficult."

Starting today and for one month, rapid antigen tests conducted at medical institutions that return positive results will be recognized as confirmation of infection. However, since each school has different standards for recognizing PCR and rapid antigen tests, parents are confused.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education announced it will maintain the flexible academic operation plan, initially set for two weeks after school started, for the time being, so the proportion of schools choosing remote classes is expected to increase as confirmed cases rise. As of the 7th, 88.1% (17,894 schools) conducted full in-person classes, and 81.9% (4.82 million students) attended school. During the first six days of the semester, an average of 29,100 students per day were confirmed with COVID-19.

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