A daily average of school children contracting COVID-19 has hit a record high as a growing number of schools are opening a new semester involving offline or in-person classes. 

According to the Education Ministry on Thursday, a total of one-thousand-137 students at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the nation were diagnosed with the virus during a week-long period ending Wednesday. 

It is equivalent to 162 per day, well over the highest daily average of 146-point-five in the spring semester. 

The spike began as around 40 percent of schools nationwide began a new semester with many of them allowing students to return to their classrooms. 

As of Thursday morning, eight-thousand-82 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools nationwide, or 39-point-four percent of all schools in the nation, held in-person classes. 

South Korea has yet to approve any vaccines for the use for those under the age of 18 due to a lack of data on their safety for children and teenagers.