South Korea closes schools again just three days after they reopened as 176 new coronavirus cases reported
SOUTH Korea has closed its schools again just three days after they reopened following a worrying spike in coronavirus cases.
Millions of children headed back to the classroom on Wednesday after five months of disruption, but the plans have been scrapped after 176 new infections were reported in the last three days.
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South Korea’s phased reopening of schools began on Wednesday, with strict social distancing measures imposed as well as temperature tests.
But following the spike in infections, the government has announced the closure of 251 schools in the city of Buncheon, while the capital Seoul has postponed the reopening of 117 schools.
The increase in cases following the reopening of schools also comes as an ominous sign for the UK, which is beginning the phased reopening of schools from this Monday.
It comes just three days after the country locked down capital Seoul after it recorded its largest daily surge in Covid-19 infections in nearly two months.
79 new cases of the coronavirus were recorded on Thursday, the single biggest spike since April 5.
Social distancing rules were imposed once again yesterday with parks and museums in the city shutting their doors for two weeks.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo has urged companies to reintroduce flexible working hours for staff.
The health minister said on Thursday: “We have decided to strengthen all quarantine measures in the [Seoul] metropolitan area for two weeks from tomorrow to June 14.
“The next two weeks are crucial to prevent the spread of the infection in the metropolitan area.
“We will have to return to social distancing if we fail.”
SECOND WAVE FEARS
The country has been widely praised for its successful handling of the outbreak – which involved aggressive testing and an advanced contact tracing programme.
So far South Korea has recorded 269 deaths, far less than countries in Europe or the US, though there are now mounting fears that a second wave of infections could be on the way.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday that there are fears that at least 102 new infections had been linked to workers at a massive warehouse operated by Coupang, a local e-commerce giant that has seen orders spike during the epidemic.
The company has been criticised for failing to implement proper preventive measures and enforce distance between employees, with the virus discovered on safety helmets, laptops, keyboards and other shared equipment.
People are being asked to not socialise in groups or meet in crowded areas including bars and restaurants.
Religious centres are also being asked to impose social distancing measures.
The health minister said that an all-out lockdown will be imposed if the nation sees more than 50 new cases every day for a week.
Vice health minister Kim Gang-lip said: “We are expecting the number of new cases linked to the warehouse to continue rising until today as we wrap up related tests”
In early May, 250 cases were linked to nightclubs in the capital.
South Korea imposed social distancing rules in March but never had to enforce a total lockdown like many countries in Europe.
It was then able to ease the measures some weeks ago reopening public places and even giving the go-ahead for sporting events such as baseball and football to re-start behind closed doors.
The country has suffered just 269 deaths from 11,402 cases.
EUROPE AT RISK
Meanwhile, in Europe, a top expert last week warned a second wave of coronavirus is inevitable because so few people are immune to the bug.
Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, urged EU leaders to prepare for resurgence in Covid-19 cases, as she warned that a lack of immunity could mean the second wave is worse than the first.
The disease expert said that only between two per cent and 14 per cent of the populations of European countries had been infected with coronavirus.
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People are believed to be immune to coronavirus once they have caught it once.
Dr Ammon said the low infection rate would leave around 90 per cent of people still vulnerable to catching the disease in a second wave.
In an interview with the Guardian, Dr Ammon said it was a matter of “when and how big” the second wave would be.
She said: “The virus is around us, circulating much more than January and February.
“I don’t want to draw a doomsday picture but I think we have to be realistic. That it’s not the time now to completely relax.”
