South Korean schools close after kindergartner tests positive for coronavirus

Several schools closed down in Seoul, South Korea after a kindergarten student contracted the coronavirus from his art teacher.

As the news spread of the six-year-old boy’s illness, fear quickly emerged among parents with young children, just two days ahead of the planned second-phase resumption of schools, including kindergartens, reported the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

The teacher, who tested positive Sunday, had taught 35 students at Young Rembrandts, a private art school in Magok of Gangseo on the south side of the Han River.

Ten nearby kindergartens and five nearby elementary schools will remain closed for two days for disinfection and other precautionary measures.

The teachers all wore masks and followed the institute’s quarantine guidelines and social distancing rules, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Kindergartens had opened up on May 20, which was the first phase of South Korea’s school reopening plan.

The art school’s 91 students, three teachers and two parents have all been tested for the virus and are awaiting their results, which will come out early Tuesday.