A total of 52,684 students from the kindergarten to the high school level tested positive for COVID-19 in Seoul last week, more than doubling from the previous week, the Seoul education office said Tuesday.

The tally from the week ending Sunday marks a steep hike from 25,122 cases a week earlier, and the rise was driven mainly by infections among elementary school students, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said.

COVID-19 cases involving elementary school students totaled 667.9 out of every 10,000 students last week, followed by 552 cases out of every 10,000 high school freshman and sophomore students. A total of 530.3 infections per 10,000 students were reported among middle school students while the numbers for high school seniors and kindergarten children were 523.8 and 368.4, respectively.

During the period, a total of 4,589 school teachers and staff members tested positive, also up from 2,369 the previous week, according to the education office.

Of all the 2,126 schools across the capital, 74.9 percent were open for fully in-person classes while 23.8 percent were providing classes partially online amid infection woes. (Yonhap)