Hindustan Times (Ranchi)

S Korea limits number of kids in schools as cases rise

- Agence France-Presse ■ letters@hindustant­imes.com

SEOUL: South Korea on Friday imposed limits on the number of pupils going to schools in and around Seoul as officials scramble to tackle fresh coronaviru­s cases that threaten the country’s success in containing the pandemic.

Only one in three pupils at kindergart­ens, elementary and middle schools in the Seoul metropolit­an area - home to half the population - will be allowed to physically attend school each day, authoritie­s said, with the others remote learning.

And a total of 502 schools near locations linked to cases in the capital area will remain closed to all pupils, a ministry official told AFP. Schools have been reopening in phases in a process that is continuing nationwide.

South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, but appears to have brought it under control thanks to an extensive “trace, test and treat” programme while never imposing a compulsory lockdown.

Social distancing rules were relaxed and the country was returning largely to normal until this week, when it re-imposed some measures in the capital and the surroundin­g region following fresh clusters of cases.

The South on Thursday reported its biggest spike in new infections in nearly two months, but Friday’s increase fell to 58, taking its total to 11,402.

An outbreak at a warehouse of e-commerce firm Coupang in Bucheon, west of Seoul, has seen a total of 96 cases as of Friday, said the Central Disaster and Safety Countermea­sure Headquarte­rs.

“We have been advising Coupang employees and their family members” not to visit any schools, said vice education minister Park Baeg Beom.

 ?? AFP ?? ■
Students sit behind protective shields in a classroom in Daejeon, South Korea.
AFP ■ Students sit behind protective shields in a classroom in Daejeon, South Korea.

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