Sharp Increase in Confirmed Cases After School Reopening... Confusion Expected Between In-Person and Remote Classes After the 14th

As of 0:00 on the 5th, 25.8% of confirmed cases are under 18
Seoul student cases soar to 6,000 per day on March 3-4
16% of students absent on first day of school reopening

As the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues, on the 2nd, when elementary, middle, and high schools reopened, parents at Geumyang Elementary School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, watched their children move to their classrooms. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Since the start of the new semester, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide has surpassed 260,000, causing an exponential increase in students and staff unable to attend school. During the first two weeks after the semester begins, academic operation methods have been set through surveys and other means, but from the 14th onward, cases of switching from in-person classes to remote learning based on confirmed cases by class or grade are expected to surge.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 5th, the number of student COVID-19 cases in Seoul from February 28 to March 3 was 15,337 over four days. Confirmed cases were 2,883 from February 28 to March 1, but surged to 6,240 on March 2 and 6,214 on March 3. Staff confirmed cases also reached 1,417 over four days, averaging 354.3 per day.

As the proportion of confirmed cases nationwide increases, the percentage of confirmed cases among students aged 18 and under remains around 25-30%. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as of midnight on the 5th, there were 254,327 new confirmed cases, with 25.8% (65,490) of them being 18 years old or younger.

On the first day of the new semester, 16% of all students were unable to attend school due to quarantine or confirmed infection. As of the 2nd, the Ministry of Education surveyed the usage status of the self-diagnosis app among kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students, finding a participation rate of 83.7% (4,910,973 students). By school level, participation rates were lowest in kindergarten (51.6%), followed by special schools (70.9%), high schools (84.2%), elementary schools (86.8%), and middle schools (90.5%).

According to the self-diagnosis app usage survey, among students eligible to attend school (4,752,802), 2.69% (158,171 students) were advised to refrain from attending. Students are instructed to stay home if they have suspicious symptoms, or if they or a cohabitant tested positive on a rapid antigen test or are awaiting a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test.

The Ministry of Education designated the first two weeks until the 11th as the "New Semester Adaptation Week," allowing flexible academic operations. School principals can decide to operate shortened classes, partial remote learning, or full remote learning at their discretion.

The problem begins on the 14th. Since academic operation standards will be set based on confirmed and quarantined cases by school, attendance criteria by grade and class within schools may change frequently. The Ministry of Education has set thresholds of 3% confirmed cases and 15% confirmed plus quarantined cases as criteria for switching to partial remote learning.

Most schools have not yet finalized their academic operation plans for the third week of March. With the Omicron variant expected to peak in mid-March, uncertainty in academic operations has increased.

Jung Jong-cheol, Vice Minister of Education, said, "We understand projections suggest cases could exceed 300,000 in mid-March, and our principle during the adaptation week was to prevent educational loss by maintaining in-person attendance." He added, "Given the situation where COVID-19 is peaking, we cannot insist on a strict in-person attendance policy for the two-week academic operation plan."

Vice Minister Jung added, "After the peak, regarding how to proceed with the academic operation plan, we intend to revise the basic direction considering the infectious disease situation, aiming to maximize in-person attendance so schools can return to normalcy."

On the 22nd, at the cafeteria of Seongwon Elementary School in Mapo-gu, Seoul, ahead of the school reopening, officials are wiping down the droplet barrier shields. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

The Ministry of Education announced that it has prepared an 'Attendance Suspension Student Attendance Guideline,' stating that students who are suspended from attending school will be treated as excused absences. If students participate in remote learning at the class level or higher during attendance suspension, it will be counted as attendance. During evaluation periods such as midterms and finals, recognition points will only be granted if medical institution test results or medical certificates are submitted for verification.

Until the 13th, under existing school quarantine guidelines, students who have unvaccinated cohabitants confirmed positive must refrain from attending school for seven days. From the 14th onward, even if a student's cohabitant is confirmed positive, the student can attend school as a passive monitor regardless of vaccination status.

The Ministry of Education recommends that passive monitors after March 14 receive a PCR test within three days based on the cohabitant's test date and a rapid antigen test on days 6 to 7. Especially, students must refrain from attending school until PCR test results are confirmed within the initial three days.

In cases where a confirmed case occurs at school, symptomatic individuals or high-risk contacts with underlying conditions must obtain a school principal's opinion letter, undergo PCR testing at a screening clinic, and may attend school if negative. Asymptomatic contacts classified through the school's own investigation must conduct at least three rapid antigen tests over seven days at home, medical institutions, or screening clinics and may attend school if all results are negative.

The Ministry of Education will distribute an additional 13 million test kits starting from the 4th, providing two kits per student and one per staff member. The distribution of kits for the third week of March is scheduled to be delivered to education offices from March 4 to 8.

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