Foreign students urged to take online classes
The Ministry of Education is encouraging foreign students enrolled in colleges here for the fall semester to take online classes from their home countries, as part of efforts to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to ministry officials Thursday.
PolitiFact: Trump said children are ‘almost immune’ from coronavirus. That’s not accurate.
A recent study out of South Korea looked at more than 1,200 cases of people with COVID-19. It found that the rate of infection was three times higher for children 10 to 19 years old than for children under 10.
American Exceptionalism-- Under Trump
…several Asian countries were exceptions, partly because they had a tradition of mask wearing to avoid sickness or minimize the effects of pollution. By January, mask wearing in Japan was widespread, as it often had been during a typical flu season. Masks also quickly became the norm in much of South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and China. In the following months, scientists around the world began to report two strands of evidence that both pointed to the importance of masks: Research showed that the virus could be transmitted through droplets that hang in the air, and several studies found that the virus spread less frequently in places where people were wearing masks. On one cruise ship that gave passengers masks after somebody got sick, for example, many fewer people became ill than on a different cruise where people did not wear masks. Consistent with that evidence was Asia's success in holding down the number of cases (after China's initial failure to do so). In South Korea, the per capita death rate is about one-eightieth as large as in the United States…
South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan largely restricted entry to residents returning home. Those residents then had to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, with the government keeping close tabs to ensure they did not leave their home or hotel. South Korea and Hong Kong also tested for the virus at the airport and transferred anyone who was positive to a government facility.
Why It’s (Mostly) Safe to Reopen the Schools
… A study of 5,706 South Korean index patients published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases suggested that children ages 10–19 may transmit Covid-19 at rates comparable to those of adults. In 231 relatives of 124 such index children, 43 of the relatives tested positive: a rate of 19%. By contrast, only 5% of the relatives of children under 10 tested positive. These figures compared with positive rates of 12% to 18% in the relatives of adult index patients.
South Korea Consumer Outlook
We are forecasting that the impact of Covid-19 will have a more severe impact on consumer spending habits in South Korea, than the 2008/09 Great Financial Crisis (GFC). In 2009, household spending in South Korea grew by a real rate of just 1.0% y-o-y. In 2020, we forecast real household spending to contract by -4.0% y-o-y. In 2019, real household spending in the country fell by -3.0% y-o-y. Driving our negative outlook view for 2020 is the general economic outlook for South Korea, with real GDP projected to contract by -0.7% in 2020, from a growth of 2.0% in 2019 and, more specifically, the financial outlook for consumers, with unemployment and wage prospects a key worry. Our Country Risk team forecasts South Korea's unemployment rate, as a percentage of the total labour force, to average 5.5% in 2020, up from an estimated 3.5% in 2019.
How schools can reopen safely during the pandemic
At schools across South Korea, children eat their lunches in silence, facing plastic screens that separate them from their friends1. They wear masks, except when practising social distancing in the playground. And their temperatures are checked twice every morning — first at home and again at the school gates.
This could be the new reality for the millions of children around the world. Summer holidays are drawing to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, and in places such as the United States, the United Kingdom and some European countries that closed schools during the coronavirus pandemic, governments are debating when and how to open schools. A growing number of studies show that there are ways to do this safely. The key is vigilance on hygiene and physical distancing, a swift public-health response to halt the spread of any infections and, most crucially, low levels of viral spread in the community. “Some countries in Asia, particularly South Korea, provide a good model for how schools can provide face-to-face teaching during the pandemic,” says Zoë Hyde, an epidemiologist at the University of Western Australia in Perth. But researchers say that if schools are opened before community transmission reaches low levels, cases will surge.
What We Can Learn From South Korea on Reopening Schools
South Korea may be setting the best example of how schools can reopen safely without increasing the spread of coronavirus, as seen on several American campuses. Children are seen practicing physical distance in class and during lunchtime, always wearing masks, and having their temperature checked at home and school.
Reopening Schools During COVID-19: Lessons Learned From Around the World
How Reopening Worked: The school year was set to begin in March, but got delayed three months due to the pandemic. The government’s plan in June established phases of reopening for different grade levels: high schoolers first, then younger students gradually over the next several weeks. Schools that recorded a new COVID-19 case were required to close once again for cleaning. Teachers were required to enforce requirements including using designated stairways and doors, refraining from hugging, and keeping desks separated. Some schools were forced to close as soon as one day after reopening, due to a confirmed COVID-19 case.
On-the-Ground Perspective: Gyungbuk Girls’ High School, located near the center of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, placed red and blue tape on floors, and staff members rehearsed the flow of foot traffic in the school before it reopened, according to an account in the Los Angeles Times. Students were so excited to return to school that some of them quickly violated the social-distancing requirements. “Kids will be kids,” principal Nam Young-mok told the Times.
Another school in Korea delayed the lunch period until 1:40 p.m., after classes ended, to prevent students from congregating maskless with each other after eating.
Lessons for U.S. Schools: Bringing students back in smaller groups could soften the blow if a school has to close once again shortly after reopening. Widespread use of masks in the country, as well as widely available COVID-19 tests and contract tracing operations, has helped ease the transition back to in-person schooling.
Even countries that appear to have gotten the virus under control can experience unexpected surges. A few weeks ago, the country reported 113 new infections—the first time that number soared above 100 in four months.
Parents frightened again ahead of fall semester opening
Many parents are becoming increasingly concerned over whether they should send their children back to school as scheduled for the upcoming fall semester, after the number of daily new COVID-19 infections hit three digits for the fifth straight day, Tuesday.
For Mom in South Korea, Sending a Child Back to School Was Worth the Risk
The safety measures in place, like glass partitions and reduced classroom sizes, eased her worries. Plus, Korean children “are even more obsessed about wearing masks than adults,” she said.
COVID-19 spreads quickly across Seoul following large scale outbreak from church
Cluster infections are popping up across Seoul following the large scale outbreak from a church in the city's Seongbuk-gu District.
On Wednesday, at least 18 students from a physical education academy near the church tested positive for COVID-19. 17 of the confirmed students are high school seniors preparing for the performance test for the college entrance exam.
All of these students were asymptomatic. But they went for testing after the academy recommended all 60 of its students do so ahead of its reopening after the summer break.
News (Aug 21 2020 07:53:21): By Bloomberg News
South Korean Cases Spread
South Korea added 324 cases in 24 hours compared with 288 a day earlier, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. There were two additional deaths.
New infections were confirmed across the country, including 125 in Seoul, and the country is at a critical juncture, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said. President Moon Jae-in called for “strict law enforcement” that includes arresting those who illegally act against the government’s quarantine measures, according to the presidential website.
South Korea Stops In-Person Instruction At 2,000 Schools Amid Surge in Coronavirus Cases
More than 280 students and 79 faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19 in schools across South Korea since the country began a phased reopening of in-person classes.
SKorea closes schools in greater capital area
South Korea is closing schools and switching back to remote learning in the greater capital area as the country counted its 12th straight day of triple-digit daily increases in coronavirus cases.
Seoul schools go back online over virus fears
South Korea on Tuesday ordered all schools and kindergartens in the greater Seoul region to switch to online classes as authorities battle multiple coronavirus clusters. The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach to curbing the virus has been held up as a global model, but it is now trying to contain several outbreaks, mostly linked to Protestant churches. South Korea reported 280 new infections on Tuesday, taking the country’s total to 17,945.
South Korea Stops In-Person Instruction At 2,000 Schools Amid Surge in Coronavirus Cases
Nearly 2,000 schools in South Korea have stopped in-person instruction due to the latest surge of coronavirus cases. A statement from the Ministry of Education said the announcement affects its 1,845 schools across the country and it is the first time since May that more than 1,000 schools will be closed. More than 280 students and 79 faculty members have tested positive for COVID-19 in schools across South Korea since the country began a phased reopening of in-person classes.
Hopes dashed for ‘normal’ school life
Seeing a stabilizing trend of new coronavirus cases in the past few months, many students, teachers and parents had hoped the coming second semester of the school year would be different. The first semester had been punctuated with weeks of closures followed by weeks of online-only classes and a mix of online and offline formats, with the former remaining the mainstay -- all because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
But with COVID-19 cases suddenly surging in the capital region, including dozens of cases involving students and school employees, it looks like online classes will be the norm again in the coming new semester. The start of the fall semester differs across cities and provinces, ranging from mid-August to early September.
All schools in greater Seoul area go online amid virus surge
Schools in Seoul and its surrounding areas returned to remote classes Wednesday to protect students and slow down the spread of the virus, as infections surge throughout the nation. The Ministry of Education ordered all 7,826 kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in the metropolitan area ― Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province ― on Tuesday to hold online classes only, until Sept. 11, to tame the highly infectious coronavirus.
Coronavirus: The surge in demand for testing after schools returned should have been foreseen
The bottom line, however, is that our testing capacity has not kept pace with the predictable surge in demand caused by schools reopening.
The same pattern is occurring in countries such as South Korea, where schools in Seoul were forced to close and revert back to distance learning this week after the 12th consecutive day of triple-digit daily increases in coronavirus cases. At least 193 students and teachers have tested positive over the past two weeks in the Seoul city region.
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South Korea is tightening social distancing restrictions in the greater capital area, requiring restaurants to provide only delivery and takeout after 9 p.m. and shutting down gyms and after-school academies.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the plans Friday after the country reported 371 new infections of COVID-19, marking its 15th straight day of triple digit jumps and bringing national totals to 19,077 reported cases, including 316 deaths. The measures will be imposed for eight days starting Sunday. Park said more than 470,000 businesses in the Seoul area will be affected by the measures.