School Confirmed Cases Doubling... Over 50,000 Student Cases in Seoul by Second Week of Semester

March 7-13 Seoul Student Confirmed Cases 52,684
Staff and Student Cases About Double Compared to Previous Week
74.9% Schools Fully Open, 80.1% Students Attended School.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] In Seoul, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among students during the second week of the new semester increased more than twice compared to the previous week over a 7-day period.

On the 15th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education reported that from March 7 to 13, the number of confirmed cases was 52,684 students and 4,589 staff members. This represents an increase of 109% and 93%, respectively, compared to the previous week.

Within two weeks of the new semester starting, the weekly number of confirmed student cases surged to 50,000, continuing a weekly doubling trend. Confirmed cases among Seoul students and staff accounted for 13.0% of all confirmed cases in Seoul, with this proportion increasing by 4.4 percentage points compared to the previous week.

March 7-13 COVID-19 Cases Among Students and Staff at Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education School Level Academic Operation and Attendance Status (As of March 14)

As of the 14th, 80.1% (707,668 students) of students attended school. By school level, special schools had the lowest attendance rate at 64.0%, followed by kindergartens at 74.5%, middle schools at 76.2%, and elementary schools at 81.7%. The attendance rate increased from 67.9% the previous week.

Schools with full in-person attendance accounted for 74.9% (1,592 schools), an increase from the previous week. Schools conducting remote classes made up 23.8% (507 schools), and those conducting fully remote classes accounted for 1.0% (21 schools). By school level, the rate of fully remote classes was highest in kindergartens (94.2%), and lower in middle schools (58.6%) and elementary schools (60.0%).

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "While decisions on academic operations for each school in response to Omicron are based on established criteria, schools where infection spread is a concern may adjust density according to their situation."

The incidence rate of confirmed cases per 10,000 students was 581.9, an increase of 70 from the previous week (511.2). By school level, elementary schools had the highest rate at 667.9, followed by grades 10-11 (552.0), middle schools (530.3), and grade 12 (523.8).

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