192 Students Confirmed Daily Over 5 Days: "Vaccination Rate Not Linked to School Attendance"

Chuseok Holiday Cases Surge Then Decline
Daily Average Cases Down 52 Compared to Jeonju
Vaccination Reservations for Ages 16-17 Begin from 8 PM on the 5th

On the morning of the 28th, students at Dongseong High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, underwent rapid self-molecular diagnostic gene amplification (rapid PCR) tests as they arrived at school. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education expanded the "Mobile Specimen Collection Team for Educational Facilities" from one team to more than four teams and designated the period until the 6th of next month as an "Intensive Multi-layered Quarantine Period," including a pilot operation of rapid PCR tests at five dormitory-operated schools. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases among kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide has significantly decreased over the past five days compared to right after the Chuseok holiday.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 5th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students from the 30th of last month to the 4th was recorded at 960. The daily average number of confirmed cases is 192.

This is 52.8 fewer than the previous week (September 23-29), when the daily average number of confirmed cases reached a record high of 244.8 due to a sharp increase after the Chuseok holiday. The trend of confirmed cases has returned to a level similar to before the Chuseok holiday. Since March, the cumulative number of confirmed cases is 21,362.

From today, vaccine reservations for children and adolescents aged 16-17 will begin. Reservations for the 16-17 age group will be accepted from 8 PM today until 6 PM on the 29th. Vaccinations will be administered from the 18th to November 13. Reservations for the 12-15 age group will be accepted from the 18th to November 12, with vaccinations taking place from November 1 to 27.

The Ministry of Education stated that even if the vaccination rate increases, social distancing levels will be maintained. A Ministry of Education official said, "We do not plan to link vaccination rates with school attendance expansion, and we intend to maintain the academic operation plan for the second semester according to the social distancing levels."

On the morning of the 28th, students at Dongseong High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, underwent rapid self-molecular diagnostic gene amplification (rapid PCR) tests as they arrived at school.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education expanded the "Mobile Specimen Collection Team for Educational Facilities" from one team to more than four teams and conducted a pilot operation of rapid PCR testing at five dormitory-operated schools. The period until the 6th of next month has been designated as an "Intensive Multi-layered Quarantine Period." / Photo by Joint Press Corps

As of 10 AM today, 84 schools are conducting remote classes, with the regional breakdown as follows: ▲Seoul 49 schools ▲Gyeonggi 7 schools ▲Incheon 6 schools ▲Jeonbuk 5 schools ▲Jeonnam 5 schools.

The number of confirmed student cases by region is ▲Gyeonggi 372 ▲Seoul 258 ▲Incheon 68 ▲Gyeongbuk 37 ▲Gyeongnam 36 ▲Gangwon 29 ▲Daejeon 24 ▲Jeonnam 23 ▲Busan 18 ▲Daegu 16.

As of 10 AM today, 99.3% (20,295 schools) of the 20,446 schools nationwide are conducting in-person classes, and 0.3% (67 schools) are on discretionary holidays.

In the metropolitan area, 98.6% (7,633 out of 7,742 schools) conducted in-person classes, and 0.6% (47 schools) took discretionary holidays. In non-metropolitan areas, 99.7% (12,662 out of 12,704 schools) conducted in-person classes, with only 0.2% (20 schools) on discretionary holidays.

As of 4 PM on the 27th, out of 5.94 million students nationwide, 4.85 million (81.8%) attended in-person classes.

In the past five days, 35 staff members have tested positive, with a cumulative total of 1,812 confirmed cases.

During the same period, 290 university students tested positive, which is about half compared to the previous week. University staff confirmed cases numbered 17. The daily average of confirmed university student cases is 58.0, and staff cases are 3.4. Compared to the previous week, university student cases increased by 46. The cumulative number of confirmed university student cases is 9,863, and university staff cases total 739.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.