Student Confirmed Cases Hit New Record Again... 5-Day Daily Average of 244.8 Patients

Increase in COVID-19 Cases After Chuseok
Student Cases Also Up by 55 Per Day Compared to Before Chuseok

On the 26th, when 2,771 new COVID-19 cases were reported, citizens visiting the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza were waiting to get tested. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Following the Chuseok holiday, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases surged, breaking the record for the highest number of student cases as well.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 28th, from September 23 to 27, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases among kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students was recorded at 1,224. The daily average number of confirmed cases was 244.8, the highest ever. Since March, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has reached 19,700.

Compared to the previous highest daily average record of 189.4 cases (September 9?16) before the Chuseok holiday, this is 55.4 cases more. As the nationwide number of COVID-19 confirmed cases exceeded 3,000, the scale of infections increased, leading to a sharp rise in student cases as well.

As of 10 a.m. on the day, 144 schools were conducting remote classes, with the breakdown by region as follows: ▲Seoul 68 schools ▲Gyeonggi 22 schools ▲Incheon 13 schools ▲Chungnam 8 schools ▲Jeonbuk 7 schools.

The number of student confirmed cases by region was ▲Gyeonggi 494 ▲Seoul 367 ▲Incheon 96 ▲Chungnam 36 ▲Jeonbuk 30 ▲Daejeon 30 ▲Gyeongbuk 26 ▲Daegu 24 ▲Gangwon 21.

As of 10 a.m. on the day, 98.9% (20,224 schools) of the 24,446 schools nationwide were conducting in-person classes, and 0.4% (78 schools) were on discretionary holidays.

In the metropolitan area, 98.1% (7,598 schools) of 7,742 schools held in-person classes, and 0.5% (41 schools) took discretionary holidays. In non-metropolitan areas, 99.4% (12,626 schools) of 12,704 schools held in-person classes, and only 5.7% (730 schools) took discretionary holidays.

As of 4 p.m. on the 27th, out of 5.94 million students nationwide, 4.8 million (80.9%) attended in-person classes.

In the past five days, 46 staff members tested positive, with a cumulative total of 1,752 confirmed cases among staff.

During the same period, 536 university students and 36 university staff members tested positive. The daily average number of confirmed university student cases was 107.2, and staff cases were 7.2. Compared to the previous week, the number of confirmed university student cases increased by 46. The cumulative number of confirmed university student cases is 8,979, and university staff cases total 713.