People get tested at a medical center in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 19, 2020. (Photo by Lee Sang-ho/Xinhua)
South Korea's education ministry said Tuesday that offline classes will be banned in Seoul and its surrounding area amid the COVID-19 resurgence in the Seoul metropolitan area.
All preschools, primary and secondary schools in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as Incheon, west of Seoul, will switch to a full remote learning from Aug. 26 to Sept. 11, according to the Ministry of Education and the education offices of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi province.
High school seniors will be excluded from the restriction as they are required to take a college entrance exam later this year.
It came amid the recent surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases especially in the metropolitan area.
In the latest tally, the country reported 280 more cases of the COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the combined number to 17,945.
The number of confirmed cases for the past 12 days reached 3,175 due to infections in the metropolitan area linked to church services and a massive rally in central Seoul in mid-August.
Among the total, 150 students as well as 43 teachers and other school staff were infected with the virus in Seoul and its surrounding area.
