Daily 53,224 Cases, Down 1,000 from Previous Week
First Decline in Confirmed Cases Since March School Opening
86% of Students Attending In-Person Classes, Up 1.3%p from Last Week
On the 24th, students are making final checks before the start of the 2022 National Joint Academic Assessment in a 3rd-year classroom at Yongsan High School in Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The average daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases among kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide over the past week slightly decreased to the 53,000 range compared to the previous week.
According to the Ministry of Education on the 30th, the average daily number of confirmed student cases nationwide during the past week (March 22?28) was 53,224, about 1,000 fewer than the previous week (54,281). The total number of confirmed student cases was 352,752. This week marks the first time since the March semester started that the numbers have shifted to a downward trend.
During the same period, the number of confirmed cases among school staff was 31,838, averaging 4,548 per day, which is 40 fewer than the previous week (4,588).
Among the total 5.87 million students, 86% (5.05 million) attended in-person classes, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous week. By school level, high schools had the highest attendance rate at 90.4%, followed by elementary schools (86.2%), middle schools (83.8%), kindergartens (81.1%), and special, various, and other schools (72.95%).
Out of 20,329 schools nationwide, 92% (18,692 schools) conducted full in-person classes. This represents a 3.5 percentage point increase in the proportion of schools with full in-person attendance compared to the previous week (March 21).
The number of students who were instructed to refrain from attending school due to symptoms or awaiting test results via the self-diagnosis app also decreased compared to the previous week. As of the 24th, the number was 174,115; on the 25th, 172,942; and on the 28th, 211,640. On the 21st, up to 280,000 students were notified to refrain from attending school in a single day.
In cases of cluster infections at schools, mobile PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing sites were operated where students could be tested either by visiting the school or directly. The positivity rate was 13.4%, similar to the previous week’s 13%. As of the 28th, 118,046 specimens were collected, with 13.4% (15,827 cases) testing positive.
In the past week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among university students was 20,323, and among university staff was 3,071. The daily averages were 2,903 for students and 439 for staff.
Since the start of the new semester in March, the weekly confirmed student cases were 271,648 → 408,928 → 408,622 → 352,752, totaling 1,441,950. Confirmed cases among school staff since the new semester began reached 119,550.
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