In response to the upsurge of COVID-19 cases on campus and in the proximate college districts, KAIST announced the enforcement of stricter safety regulations for two weeks, restricting the mobility of students outside the school and prohibiting social gatherings.

For a week from April 5 to 11, students were banned from engaging in off-campus activities and utilizing external public facilities. Such facilities include, but are not limited to, clubs, bars, PC rooms, karaokes, indoor gyms, cafes, restaurants, and other crowded indoor spaces. Having meals outside of KAIST cafeterias in a group of two or more is also prohibited; however, food delivery and takeouts are allowed. Any face-to-face social gatherings and club activities are banned, as well as having two or more people in clubrooms simultaneously. Failure to adhere to the aforementioned rules, particularly regarding the use of outside facilities, may result in the violator’s expulsion from the dormitory. Due to the continuous increase of COVID cases in KAIST and in Daejeon, the intensive safety rules have been extended for another week, from April 12 to 18. 

All work meetings should be handled online, and laboratories are highly encouraged to administer work from home. In cases where it is impossible to conduct work online, labs are advised to apply a flexible working schedule in order to minimize face-to-face interactions between researchers. Regarding the courses that both online and offline classes and dissertation evaluations, class activities should be conducted exclusively online from April 2 to 8 for Daejeon campus and April 7 to 13 for Seoul Campus in Hongneung.

Following the confirmed COVID-19 cases among dormitory residents, many students expressed their concern over a bigger number of students living on campus this semester. To further control the spread of the disease among dormitory residents, the school installed temperature scanners equipped with hand sanitizer dispensers in front of the dormitory entrances. As before, students are advised to wear masks while in the dormitory corridors and restrooms.