The government is checking quarantine measures for the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), as the exam is just a month away. The CSAT this year will be the third conducted during the Covid-19 era.
A total of 508,030 students will take the CSAT on Nov. 17 nationwide, the Ministry of Education said.
The government plans to establish a quarantine management system through cooperation with related ministries to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and make sure students can take the exam stably.
Test takers will have to wear masks, and the test will be divided into general test takers and Covid-19 positive test takers subject to quarantine.
The Ministry of Education and related ministries plan to run a joint task force two weeks before the entrance exam to monitor Covid-19 positive test takers subject to quarantine and prepare a separate test center.
The quarantine officials said that the Ministry of Education plans to announce more detailed CSAT quarantine measures next week after further discussion.
On Friday, Korea added 23,583 new Covid-19 infections, including 60 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 25,076,239, according to the KDCA.
The nation also reported 35 more Covid-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 28,783. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 237, down 29 from the previous day.
However, the number of daily infections grew compared to a week earlier for the first time since last month.
“As the trend of declining prevalence has stalled, the number of daily confirmed cases decreasing compared to the previous week seems to have also entered a stagnant phase,” said Son Young-rae, a senior health ministry official. “We will continue to monitor the situation, keeping in mind the possibility of a winter rebound of the Covid-19 virus.”
According to the KDCA, about 44.68 million among 52 million Koreans have been fully vaccinated. In addition, about 33.6 million people had received their first booster shots, and 7.48 million had their second booster shots.