Seoul city, schools to support Chinese students as coronavirus outbreak prolongs

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul city government and universities in the capital on Friday announced a set of measures aimed at helping Chinese students enrolled in local schools as the coronavirus outbreak shows no sign of abating.

The measures include providing shuttle bus services from the airport to schools for students who are returning for the new school year after spending their winter vacation in their home country, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul-based universities.

The city government and district offices will also provide temporary accommodations for students as some universities may not have enough space at their dormitories to quarantine all students coming from China.

Meals, daily necessities and regular room disinfection will be provided to quarantined students, they added.

As part of precautionary measures, the city government and schools plan to monitor students' health twice a day and run a mobile app where students will be able to report their health conditions.

"The city will cooperate closely with the education ministry, universities and district offices to prevent the contagious virus from further spreading and help ease concerns for local residents," Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said.

Some 38,330 Chinese students are enrolled in 68 universities in the city, according to the latest data. Around 17,000 of them are expected to arrive here for the new school year that starts in March.

As of Friday, South Korea has reported 156 cases of COVID-19. It reported its first case on Jan. 20.

mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)