The number of flu patients has shifted upwards since the start of the school semester.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), suspected seasonal flu patients who experienced a sudden fever of over 38 degrees along with a cough or a sore throat numbered eleven-point-nine for every one thousand outpatients at 197 medical institutions nationwide in the past week. 

The figure is slightly up from eleven-point-six of the previous week and marks the first rise in nine weeks. Eleven-point-nine is also two-point-four times higher than the four-point-nine criteria determined for assessing a flu epidemic this season.

The number of influenza patients has stabilized this year after surpassing 60 for every one thousand outpatients late last year.

The latest uptick is likely attributed to increased movement and contact amid the school semester kicking off this month without social distancing and indoor mask mandates.

Daily average COVID-19 cases, which recently fell to the lower nine-thousands, have climbed back up to the ten-thousand range. 

However authorities say the upward trend is tentative and is unlikely to lead to a resurgence.