The education ministry said Friday that 5,841 publicly run schools in Japan were at least partially closed as of Jan. 26 due to the explosive spread of the omicron coronavirus variant.
According to a ministry survey, 1,114 schools, or 3.1%, had implemented schoolwide closures and 4,727 schools, or 13.3%, had closed down some of their classrooms or grades.
The survey covered about 35,000 public kindergartens and elementary, junior high, high and special needs schools throughout the country.
It also found that the proportions of schools that shut down at least partially varied from prefecture to prefecture, with Shimane recording 43.4%, or 174 schools, and Iwate just 2.2%, or 12 schools.
High closure rates were also reported in Fukuoka, at 35.7%, Kyoto, 31.7%, and Osaka, 30.5%.
On Friday, the ministry called on education boards and other local authorities to instruct schools to reduce the number of students physically attending classes at once by setting staggered school hours and utilizing online teaching.
The ministry also said a separate survey showed that 95.2% of all public elementary and junior high schools were ready as of Jan. 31 to provide all students with tablet computers to enable them to study at home when necessary.
The rate rose from 66.5% six months earlier.
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