Over 500 schools across the country postponed reopening on Wednesday following a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. 

The Education Ministry said 561 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, which account for two-point-seven percent of all such institutions, delayed welcoming back students.

They include all 251 schools located in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, which has seen a spike in cases linked to a Coupang logistics center. 

In the city of Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province, 181 schools  took similar measures after hundreds of students and teachers were found to have come into contact with novel coronavirus patients. 

In Seoul, 111 schools postponed their plans after cases of infection involving students and school workers were reported in several districts. 

While those schools followed the advice of regional authorities, 18 schools in five areas, including Incheon, Daegu and South Gyeongsang Province, decided on their own to push back reopening out of precaution.

In the second phase of the country's school reopening plan, second-year high school students, third-year middle school students and first and second graders in elementary schools returned to classrooms, while kindergartens also opened their doors.