"2024 CSAT Also with Lunch Dividers and Masks... Detailed Quarantine Measures to Be Announced Next Week (Comprehensive)"

Next Week's 2023 CSAT Quarantine Measures Announcement
Monitoring of Isolated Examinees Starting Two Weeks Before CSAT
Mask Wearing and Paper Dividers During Lunch Break

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The government announced that it will establish and implement COVID-19 prevention measures in preparation for the '2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT)' scheduled for the 17th of next month.

At the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting held on the 14th, chaired by Kim Seong-ho, the 2nd General Coordinator of CDSCH (Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, Ministry of the Interior and Safety), COVID-19 prevention measures for this year's CSAT were discussed.

Based on the 'COVID-19 Response 2023 College Entrance Management Direction' announced last August, the government plans to separate general test-takers and confirmed COVID-19 positive test-takers and assign them to different exam sites. Similar to the past two years of CSATs conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prevention measures such as mask-wearing and installation of three-sided paper partitions during lunch breaks will be implemented this year as well.

The Ministry of Education and related agencies will operate a joint situation room to monitor the occurrence of test-takers subject to quarantine starting two weeks before the CSAT. COVID-19 positive test-takers will be assigned to separate exam sites to take the test.

Detailed COVID-19 prevention measures for the CSAT will be announced later after further inter-agency discussions. In his opening remarks at the CDSCH meeting, the 2nd General Coordinator Kim said, "The 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test, with approximately 508,000 examinees, is just one month away," adding, "The government will establish the '2023 CSAT COVID-19 Prevention Measures' to ensure that test-takers can take the exam with peace of mind and will provide detailed explanations next week."

Meanwhile, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases on the day was 23,583, an increase of 1,294 compared to 22,289 cases reported a week earlier on the 7th. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, "The downward trend of the outbreak has temporarily stalled, resulting in a plateau in the number of confirmed cases this week compared to last week," adding, "However, how this situation will change in the future needs to be observed until around next week to make a judgment."

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