JAKARTA - South Korea opened a COVID-19 quarantine center on Thursday to house thousands of teenagers potentially infected with COVID-19, ahead of the country's grueling eight-hour college entrance exam in two weeks.
The highly competitive exams, which are held only once a year, are considered a life-defining event for many high school students in South Korea.
This is because a degree from a prestigious university is seen as a bridge to securing a job in a coveted but limited company in the country with Asia's fourth largest economy.
To ensure any student wishing to be able to take the test, the government opened a residential quarantine center at the hospital and other treatment centers that can accommodate up to 3,000 students.
About 510,000 final year high school students, or about 40 percent of the country's total, are scheduled to take the test, which covers subjects from languages to math and science.
The quarantine center that opened on Thursday will house confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as possible students coming into contact with an infected person over the next two weeks.
It was unclear how many, if any, students were in quarantine centers on Thursday. The Ministry of Education is not expected to reveal the number of quarantined students planning to take the test until closer to the November 18 exam date.
On test day, there will be 112 special centers for students who have been quarantined and 33 hospitals, as well as treatment centers will set up special rooms for students with the virus, on top of the 1,255 regular test centres.
Earlier, South Korea began easing social distancing rules this week as part of a plan to gradually move towards living with COVID-19, supported by the high rate of COVID-19 vaccinations among the country's adult population.
Nearly 90 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, although the rate for children between the ages of 12 and 17 is only 0.6 percent, because vaccination for that age group has only begun in recent weeks.
While the latest wave of the virus has brought far fewer serious infections than previous outbreaks, the government said on Wednesday it would increase testing for COVID-19 in schools, following a sharp increase in infections among children.
In addition, the government is conducting checks on hundreds of test preparation education centers and popular facilities such as internet cafes, study rooms and karaoke venues over the coming two weeks, to ensure people adhere to social distancing measures, including wearing masks.
All high school classes will switch to distance learning from the week before exams, to avoid any contagion, while parents are asked to stay home and avoid outside contact.
To note, South Korea reported 2,482 new cases on Wednesday. The Ginseng Country's total has recorded 373,120 cases of infection, with 2,916 deaths so far. The hospital treated about 365 critical cases.
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