NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has stressed the need for toughening antivirus measures to curb the current COVID-19 surge. While noting increasing infections among students and teachers, Cho Hee-yeon announced a plan to introduce self-test kits to some of schools in Seoul as proposed by the city government. He added self-test kits will be allowed for boarding schools with over 100 students or those operating sports teams. But Cho made it clear that the kits will be used only as a supplementary means with a precondition that their safety is verified by the government and health authorities.
The Seoul city government says those living alone take up the largest portion of the city's total households. According to the city government's 2020 welfare survey, single-person households account for over 33 percent of the total, followed by two-people households at nearly 26 percent. The percentage of households consisting of three or four members stands at 20.6 percent and 19.2 percent, respectively. More than 32 percent of the one-person households answered it's most difficult when they are sick or handle emergencies alone. They also cited other difficulties like loneliness and financial uncertainty.
The government discussed measures to supplement its housing policies in a pan-government meeting Thursday. It reviewed various remedy measures to help those owning no or only single homes within the framework of the government's current policies. Chaired by Acting Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, the meeting was attended by Financial Services Commission chief Eun Sun-soo and Vice Land Minister Yoon Sung-won as well as Vice Interior Minister Lee Jae-young and Ahn Il-whan, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs.