A South Korean teacher is interacting with its students online from a classroom. (Image via Al Jazeera)

S. Korea to close schools amid COVID-19 spike

Starting Tuesday tomorrow, South Korea (S. Korea) has ordered schools in Seoul and its surrounding areas to close. The policy came amid S. Korea's battle against its worst outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic since the time it entered the country. The number even broke the record in February 2020.

In Seoul, schools will shift to online classes until the end of December. So far, S. Korea had urged its people to fight the COVID-19 by maintaining social distancing principle, yet it failed to reverse the COVID-19 spike in the world's fourth-largest economy. The school closure means S. Korea is a prelude to the Phase III social distancing policy which means that the country will lock itself down.

The Prime Minister of S. Korea, Chung Sye-kyun, stated that the action needed meticulous review while facing the mounting pressure to do more in order to stop the COVID-19 infection simultaneously. Chung stated that the S. Korean Government will not hesitate to execute Phase III if necessary and after gathering opinions from related ministries, local government, and experts. The Phase III lockdown also means that only the essential workers are allowed to go to work and gatherings, capped at less than 10 people.

On Monday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 718 fresh COVID-19 cases, decreasing from the increase of 1,030 per day. From the new cases, the majority of them were locally transmitted with the most being in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi. The last province is the home to over 25 million residents. With the latest record, S. Korea's COVID-19 statistics totals at 43,484 with 587 deaths.

Source: https://bit.ly/3oMCjeo