An ominous sign: South Korea closes 200+ schools after its worst COVID-19 spike in months

South Korea has been widely praised by health experts for keeping its coronavirus death count down by implementing a comprehensive testing plan and aggressive social distancing policies. But the BBC is reporting that that South Korea has closed down more than 200 schools following its biggest spike in COVID-19 infections in months.

This development follows the reopening of South Korea’s schools and the relaxing of social distancing restrictions. Thousands of South Korean students returned to schools as the federal government began easing those restrictions, but only a few days after the reopening — according to the BBC — 79 new cases of COVID-19 were reported.

Many of them, the BBC reports, were “linked to a distribution center outside” of Seoul, South Korea’s largest city,.

According to the BBC, “The warehouse, in the city of Bucheon, is run by the country's biggest e-commerce firm Coupang, and officials have said the facility was not strictly complying with infection control measures. Health officials even discovered traces of COVID-19 on workers' shoes and clothes.”

The BBC also reports that on Friday, 58 new coronavirus cases were recorded in South Korea.