The education office in South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu is considering delaying the start of a new school year next month amid fears over the spread of the new coronavirus in the region.

The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education on Wednesday said it plans to set up an emergency response team and discuss measures, including postponing the start of the spring semester for elementary, middle and high schools.

The education office has so far banned orientation events for freshman students at middle and high schools and supplementary classes for most high school seniors.

Education officials have also temporarily shut down a kindergarten attended by a child of a nurse who works at the medical facility where the 31st patient, who became the city's first coronavirus case on Tuesday, was hospitalized.

Concerns over the virus' spread have further grown following reports of 13 additional cases in the city and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province early Wednesday.