2124 Students in Seoul Confirmed COVID-19 Positive in One Week... 'Visiting Vaccination' Starts from 21st (Comprehensive)

Vaccination Visits Begin from the 21st
If Few Applicants, Visit Health Centers or Medical Institutions
Student COVID-19 Cases Increase by 674 Compared to Last Week

On the 14th, a parent is waving to their child who is going to school at an elementary school in Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Starting from the 21st, Seoul schools will begin 'on-site vaccination visits.'

On the 14th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced in a weekly briefing that a total of 1,154 schools have expressed demand for on-site vaccination visits.

The number of schools by vaccination demand is as follows: ▲1-10 people: 925 schools ▲11-20 people: 146 schools ▲31-40 people: 18 schools ▲41-50 people: 5 schools ▲51 or more: 2 schools.

By school level, elementary schools (526 schools) are the most, followed by middle schools (379 schools), high schools (227 schools), and special schools (22 schools).

Earlier, the Ministry of Education conducted a survey from the 6th to the 12th via a self-diagnosis app targeting parents to check their willingness for on-site vaccination. The Ministry plans to start on-site vaccination from the 15th and operate a two-week intensive vaccination support period until the 24th.

Ham Hye-seong, Director of Lifelong Career Education at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, explained, "About 30% of students expressed willingness for school visit vaccinations in the survey. Since this was a preliminary demand survey and not conducted for all students, the response rate was somewhat low."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education expects to start vaccinations as early as one week after consultations with local governments. Director Ham said, "It is difficult to implement immediately from tomorrow, but it should be possible from the 21st. The implementation will be carried out after sufficient consultation among local governments, public health centers, and schools, and even if it overlaps with school vacations, it will proceed if the schedule allows."

School-Local Government Schedule Coordination... School Vaccination or Public Health Center Visits

For those who wish to be vaccinated, parental consent forms will be collected separately to proceed with vaccination. While school visit vaccinations are preferred, in schools with fewer vaccination applicants, students will visit public health centers or entrusted institutions for vaccination.

Oh Jeong-hoon, Director of Sports, Health, Culture, and Arts at Seoul City, said, "Whether public health center personnel visit schools or students visit the health centers will be decided by the 25 autonomous districts and the schools requesting vaccination. We are exploring support plans for personnel, health teachers, or specialists, and have requested local governments to increase personnel and extend consultation times to alleviate parental anxiety."

Emergency vehicles will also be deployed at schools conducting on-site vaccinations to prepare for emergencies. Plans to support convenience vehicles for those who need to visit public health centers are also under consideration. Director Ham said, "Since ambulance deployment standards vary by local government, we plan to deploy after receiving applications and consulting with schools and others."

Seoul schools will enter winter vacation from the end of this month, and more than 50% of middle and high schools will conduct final exams in the third week of December. Full in-person attendance will be maintained until the vacation.

Kim Gyu-tae, Deputy Superintendent of Seoul, explained, "The infection rate within schools is about 25% on average, with more infections occurring outside. Requests to revise the full in-person attendance principle can only be observed at this point. Even now, when confirmed cases occur in schools, only some classes switch to remote learning, and schools operate flexibly."

2,124 Students Confirmed Positive in the Past Week... 674 More Than Previous Week

On this day, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education reported that from the 6th to the 12th, 2,124 students tested positive, an increase of 674 from the previous week. The number of confirmed staff cases was 206, up 102 from the previous week. The daily average number of confirmed cases also rose from 222 to 333.

The infection routes of confirmed cases were mostly family infections (37.1%), followed by in-school infections (24.4%) and out-of-school infections (9.8%). Cases with unknown infection routes accounted for 28.7%. The in-school infection rate slightly decreased compared to the previous week (25.0%).

The infection rates relative to the total number of students by school level were ▲elementary school 28.6% ▲middle school 25.1% ▲kindergarten 24.2% ▲high school grade 3 (senior year) 12.1% ▲high school grades 1-2 10.4%.

The infection rate among kindergarteners increased 3.6 times compared to the third week of November (6.7%), and elementary students increased 2.4 times from 11.9% to 28.6% during the same period. The increase was notable among those under 12 years old who are not vaccinated. For high school seniors, the rate increased 3.9 times compared to the third week of November (3.1%).

As confirmed cases occurred throughout Seoul, as of the 8th, 79.6% of schools conducted in-person classes. By school level, the rates were ▲elementary 87.9% ▲middle 77.0% ▲high 66.6%. From November 22, among oversized and overcrowded schools in Seoul, students in grades 3-6 of elementary schools can attend at least three-quarters, and middle and high schools at least two-thirds in person.

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