55,146 Student COVID-19 Cases Nationwide from 19th to 25th
Daily Average Cases Also Decrease to Four Digits
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] With full in-person classes scheduled for next month, the number of confirmed student cases has decreased to the 50,000 range over the past week.
According to the Ministry of Education on the 27th, a total of 55,146 students from nationwide kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools were confirmed positive for COVID-19 during the week from the 19th to the 25th.
The weekly number of confirmed student cases decreased by about 39,000 from the previous week (94,625). The daily average number of confirmed cases was 7,878, down 5,154 from the previous week (13,032).
The number of confirmed student cases has steadily declined from 260,008 in the fifth week of March (March 29?April 4), to 173,404 in the first week of April (April 5?11), and 91,225 in the second week of April (April 12?18).
In the recent week, elementary school students (29,349) accounted for the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by ▲middle school students 13,164 ▲high school students 9,010 ▲kindergarteners 3,320. The cumulative number of confirmed student cases this semester is 1,976,205.
The number of confirmed cases among school staff in the recent week was 7,150, a decrease of 3,876 from the previous week. The cumulative number of confirmed staff cases this semester is 175,502.
The proportion of confirmed cases aged 18 and under among all confirmed cases was 19.7%, down from 20.8% the previous week, and the proportion of student cases identified by the Ministry of Education was 9.6%, also down from 10.2% the previous week.
As of the 25th, full in-person classes were conducted at 20,236 schools, accounting for 99.5% of the 20,329 schools nationwide.
Schools that conducted partial in-person and partial remote classes numbered 61 (0.3%), and no schools conducted fully remote classes.
On the same date, 5,874,130 students from kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, special, and various schools nationwide attended school, representing 96.6% (5,673,058 students).
The attendance rate for in-person classes was 90.3% as of four weeks ago on the 4th, increasing to 93.4% on the 11th, 95.5% on the 18th, and 96.6% on the 25th.
Mobile PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing stations, operated at schools with multiple contacts after confirmed cases, collected a total of 177,105 specimens from the 28th of last month to the 25th of this month, with 22,462 (12.7%) testing positive.
The number of confirmed university student cases in the recent week was 2,377, and confirmed university staff cases were 575.
When the quarantine authorities announce outdoor mask-wearing guidelines on the 29th, the mask-wearing standards within schools are also expected to be finalized.
A Ministry of Education official stated, "Currently, masks are not required outdoors if a distance of 2 meters or more is maintained, but masks must be worn in crowded places. We plan to discuss this based on the announcement and will provide further guidance regarding schools as needed."
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