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South Korea decided Monday to delay offline school classes for one more week on rising worry about a cluster infection from clubs at a multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon in the capital Seoul.
According to the education ministry, high school seniors were originally scheduled to go to school for offline classes beginning Wednesday, but it was postponed by one week to May 20.
High school second graders and junior high school third graders as well as first and second graders of elementary school will go to school from May 27, while high school first graders and junior high school second graders along with third and fourth graders of primary school will be allowed to attend offline classes from June 3.
Junior high school first graders and the fifth and sixth graders of primary school will go to school from June 8.
The country began this year's new school year with online classes from April 9 in a gradual manner.
The delayed school reopening came amid growing concern about the Itaewon cluster infection that have caused a total of 86 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide as of midday Monday local time.
In the latest tally, South Korea reported 35 more cases of the COVID-19 for the past 24 hours. The daily caseload hit the bottom at two on May 6, but it began to rise rapidly from 12 on Friday to 18 on Saturday and 34 on Sunday each on the back of the cluster infection.
The cluster infection is believed to have started from a 29-year-old man who visited a total of five clubs and bars in Itaewon from the night of May 1 to the early hours of May 2. He tested positive and was admitted to a hospital in the morning of May 6.
At least 5,517 people were believed to have visited the clubs and bars, to which the 29-year-old went. Of the total, 2,456 took tests for the virus along with 621 who came in contact with the clubbers.
