A sign says a building is temporarily closed for disinfection for the coronavirus at Ewha Womans University in Seoul on March 31, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Clusters of coronavirus infections have recently popped up in universities in the city, prompting classes to switch back to online, with students rushing to get tested, less than a month after the spring semester began.
At Sogang University in western Seoul, a total of eight students have tested positive since Thursday. They all stay at Gonzaga dormitory.
The school has returned to online-only classes until April 9 and banned outsiders to enter the campus to prevent the virus from spreading.
At nearby Ewha Womans University, a student, who recently attended in-person instruction, was found to have contracted the virus, resulting in all in-person classes being switched to online-only until Friday.
A similar situation also occurred in Yonsei University, leading to the temporary closure of the buildings that infected students had visited for disinfection.
On internet forums, anxious students criticized their schools for what they believed to be a late response to the spread of the virus on campus, and they have been sharing what they know about the recent outbreaks.
There were posts by infected students who voluntarily shared their itineraries and where they believed they got the virus, even before the schools put out relevant information.
A student at Ewha said she called the school to find out about the recent outbreak on the campus.
“I don’t like the way the school handled the situation, but let’s not blame the patient or others,” she wrote.
School officials, however, said their response has been adequate and that they have been sharing all “meaningful” information with students.
(Yonhap)
