296 Student Confirmed Cases in the Past Week... 54 Fewer Than Last Week

Decline for 3 Weeks... Weekly Confirmed Cases Below 300
79 Schools Unable to Attend Classes... Seoul (31 Schools) Has the Most

On the 3rd, medical staff are organizing specimens at a mobile COVID-19 PCR testing site installed at Seoul Sports Middle and High School in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The Ministry of Education, in consultation with health authorities, has formed teams for each of the 11 education support offices in Seoul to conduct tests starting from the 3rd, visiting schools across Seoul to test staff and students who wish to be tested.
/Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The number of COVID-19 student cases over the past week decreased by 54 to 296 compared to the previous week.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 6th, from April 29 to May 5, a total of 296 students from kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools, and 46 staff members tested positive for COVID-19. This means an average of 42.3 students and 6.6 staff members tested positive per day.

The number of confirmed cases has been declining for three consecutive weeks. The daily average of student cases peaked in the first and second weeks of April but has decreased over the past three weeks, falling below 300.

The daily average number of student cases over the past four weeks was ▲April 8?14: 58.3 ▲April 15?21: 55 ▲April 22?28: 50 ▲April 29?May 5: 42.3. The cumulative number of COVID-19 student cases since the new semester began is 2,884, and staff cases total 440.

As of 10 a.m. on the day, 79 schools (0.4%) were unable to conduct in-person classes, a decrease of 31 schools compared to the previous week. A total of 4,280 schools implemented discretionary holidays.

By region, Seoul had the highest number of schools unable to conduct in-person classes at 31, followed by Daejeon with 9, and Jeonbuk and Jeonnam with 7 each.

As of 4 p.m. on the 4th, 3,693,000 students from kindergarten through high school were attending in-person classes, accounting for 62.2% of all students. Among them, middle school attendance was only 50%, representing half.

In the past week, 107 university students tested positive, a decrease of 9 from the previous week. University staff cases numbered 5, down 10 from last week. This means an average of 15.2 university students and 0.7 staff members tested positive daily. The cumulative number of confirmed cases among university students and staff is 1,243 and 127, respectively.