1237 Student COVID-19 Cases in Seoul This Week... 642 Fewer Than Last Week

Confirmed Student Cases Decrease for 2 Consecutive Weeks
Significant Decline in Kindergartens and Elementary Schools

At the winter vacation ceremony held on the 30th at Deoksu Elementary School in Jung-gu, Seoul, students are attentively listening to the principal's speech. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The number of student COVID-19 cases in Seoul over the past week has decreased by 642 compared to the previous week.

On the 4th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that from December 27 to January 2, there were a total of 1,237 confirmed student cases and 107 confirmed staff cases.

The infection routes were family transmission at 39.8%, in-school transmission at 21.0%, out-of-school transmission at 12.1%, and unknown transmission routes at 27%.

Since social distancing measures were strengthened from December 18 and most schools began their winter vacation, along with an increase in vaccination rates among children and adolescents, the number of confirmed cases has continued to decline.

The number of confirmed cases by school level over the week was ▲Kindergarten 76 ▲Elementary school 677 ▲Middle school 327 ▲High school grades 1-2 119 ▲High school grade 3 23. Compared to the previous week, confirmed cases in kindergartens (147→76) and elementary schools (1,078→677) significantly decreased.

Among major cluster infection cases, at Kindergarten A, after a teacher was confirmed positive through family transmission, the total number increased to 15, including 13 students and 1 staff member. At Elementary School B, after a student with suspected symptoms tested positive, 14 students and 1 staff member were additionally confirmed, resulting in a total of 16 cluster infections.

As of January 1, the vaccination completion rate for ages 12 to 17 surpassed 50%. As of midnight on the 3rd, the second-dose completion rate for ages 12 to 17 was 50.8%, and the first-dose completion rate was 75.1%. For ages 16 to 17, the second-dose completion rate was 72.5%, and the first-dose completion rate was 87.3%. For ages 12 to 15, the second-dose completion rate was 40.2%, and the first-dose completion rate was 69.1%.

According to the Ministry of Education, the nationwide average daily number of confirmed student cases over the recent week (December 27 to January 2) was 587.4, and the average daily number of staff cases was 39.8.

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