Seoul, Aug 25 (IANS): South Korea's Education Ministry on Tuesday said that offline classes will be banned in Seoul and its surrounding area amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the capital city's metropolitan area.

All pre-schools, primary and secondary schools in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as Incheon, will switch to a full remote learning from Wednesday to September 11, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

High school seniors will be excluded from the restriction as they are required to take a college entrance exam later this year.

Tuesday's announcement came amid the recent surge in new coronavirus cases especially in the metropolitan area.

In the latest tally, the country reported 280 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the overall tally to 17,945.

The number of confirmed cases for the past 12 days reached 3,175 due to infections in the metropolitan area linked to church services and a massive rally in central Seoul in mid-August.

Among the total, 150 students as well as 43 teachers and other school staff were infected with the virus in Seoul and its surrounding area.