Photos show South Korean students eating and learning with plastic screens between them as schools start to reopen
Yonhap/via REUTERS
High schools in South Korea reopened on Wednesday as the country's coronavirus cases begin to dwindle.
Transparent plastic barriers now separate students in classrooms and cafeterias to minimize the risk of spreading the virus.
Masks, temperature checks, and antibacterial gel are also required before entering campus each day.
Social-distancing measures also remain in place.
Scroll down to see what the first day back at school looked like.
Schools in South Korea have reopened, and photos show much has changed, with plastic screens now separating students in their classrooms and cafeterias.
On Wednesday, high school seniors were the first students to return to school as life in the country slowly returns to normal.
Students were supposed to go back to school in March, but that date was repeatedly pushed back due to the outbreak.
Now schools have put in a set of stringent new rules to prevent the coronavirus from breaking out in campuses. Earlier this week France reported 70 new coronavirus cases in schools that were allowed to reopen.
In South Korea, before entering school campuses, students are now required to:
Get their temperature checked upon arrival each day.
Rub their hands with antibacterial gel.
Wear a mask and refrain from shaking hands.
And in cafeterias:
Transparent glass dividers now separate each seat from the front and sides.
Students can't sit opposite each other and must sit in a zig-zag pattern, leaving a space between seats.
No one can sit on the end seat near a thoroughfare.
No one can share water or food.
Students must bring their own cutlery.
Scroll down to see what this looks like:
Students at this school in Daejeon ate their first lunch separated by plastic screens ...
Yonhap/via REUTERS
... while this school in Ulsan used opaque dividers, and sat with space in between them.
Yonhap via Reuters
This school in Daegu also put in transparent partitions between seats in its canteen.
Twitter/Arirang TV
In many cases, class schedules, lunch hours, and even bathroom breaks have been staggered to thin the crowds.
Twitter/ArirangTV
Source: BBC
Classroom desks have also been moved further apart.
Gety
Some schools have also put transparent partitions on desks in classrooms.
Reuters
In this school's case, the partitions are opaque.
—The Korea Herald (@TheKoreaHerald) May 19, 2020
All school staff members and students now have to wear masks, as well as maintain social distancing measures on campus.
Ed JONES /AFP
These students in Seoul have to line up with at least two steps between them. As students were reunited, some put their arms around their friends' shoulders, only to be told by teachers to stay apart, Reuters reported.
Yonhap via Reuters
Source: Reuters
Some teachers are also finding it "practically impossible" to implement some of the stringent new rules, like staggering bathroom breaks. "I feel like we're carrying a time bomb," one told Reuters.
Yonhap via Reuters
Source: Reuters
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