In the Past Week, 54,000 Students Infected Daily... Full Return to School and Increase in Attending Students

Average Daily Confirmed Cases of 54,281 Students in the Past Week
Attendance Rate: March 7 - 82.2%, March 14 - 83.8%, March 21 - 84.7%
Schools with Full Attendance Classes on March 21: 89.5%, Increased from Previous Week

On the 16th, students lined up to receive on-site mobile PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for COVID-19 response at Inheon Middle School in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Although the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has been breaking records every week since the new semester began, the number of students attending school has actually increased as schools have implemented full in-person attendance amid concerns about learning loss in the third year of the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 23rd, the number of confirmed cases in the past week (March 15?21) was 379,983, with an average of 54,281 student cases per day, an increase of 6,427 from the previous week (47,854). The average daily number of confirmed cases among faculty and staff was 4,588, up by 714 from a week earlier.

As confirmed cases rise nationwide, the number of students instructed to refrain from attending school due to symptoms or awaiting test results through the self-diagnosis app has significantly increased this week. On the 21st, the number of students barred from attending school was 282,091, more than 60,000 higher than on the 17th (216,987) and the 18th (220,680). By school level, the rates were highest in elementary schools (5.78%), followed by middle schools (4.58%) and high schools (3.66%).

The proportion of students attending school has been rising, reaching 84.7% of all students. Since the second week of March, the percentage of students attending in-person classes has steadily increased from 82.2% on the 7th to 83.8% on the 14th, and 84.7% on the 21st. This is attributed to improved school response capabilities in the third year of COVID-19 and parents actively sending their children to school due to concerns about learning loss. The percentage of schools conducting full remote classes was 89.5% as of the 21st, a slight increase from 89.1% the previous week.

Looking at the COVID-19 incidence among school-age children over the past four weeks, cases peaked during the second week of March (8th?14th) and then slightly declined. The proportion of student confirmed cases rose from 13.3% in the last week of February to 17.7% in the first week of March and 18.6% in the second week, before decreasing to 14.0% in the third week of March. A Ministry of Education official explained, "When confirmed, students enter their status into the self-diagnosis app, but there is a delay of several days in reporting, so some cases are not immediately reflected in the statistics." They added, "The proportion of student confirmed cases is around 18%, and including delayed reports, the total is estimated to be around 500,000."

In cases of cluster infections at schools, mobile PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing sites have been operated where students or visitors to the school can get tested. As of the 21st, 85,616 samples were collected, with 13% (11,151 cases) testing positive. The highest numbers of samples collected were in Gangwon (19,313), Jeonnam (12,384), Jeju (6,341), and Daegu (6,089). The regions with the highest positivity rates were Jeju (32.0%), Daegu (31.0%), and Gangwon (26.5%).

Meanwhile, in the past week, the number of confirmed cases among university students was 27,418, and among faculty and staff was 3,455. The daily averages were 3,916 for university students and 493 for faculty and staff.

The Ministry of Education expects the peak of COVID-19 spread to continue until the end of this month and has decided to maintain pre-attendance screening using rapid antigen test kits through April. Currently, students receive two test kits per week, but from mid-April, this will be reduced to one per week. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has allocated a budget to purchase six weeks’ worth of self-test kits starting in May in preparation for the continued COVID-19 situation.

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