A survey of schools in Japan shows that more than 10 percent of them had students who were absent to prevent coronavirus infection.
The Japan Teachers' Union issued a report on the survey conducted between late August and mid-September -- the period just after summer break. A total of 1,152 schools from elementary to senior high as well as those for special needs responded.
Japan's education ministry says 18 clusters of coronavirus infections have occurred at schools since they reopened in June after a nationwide closure.
The ministry says 1,166 students from elementary to senior high schools were infected with the virus during the period through the end of August. The number of teachers and staff infected was 194. And 83 children and staff at kindergartens were also infected.
Schools in the southwestern Japanese city of Hitoyoshi have reopened, after heavy rain caused floods and mudslides in the area recently.
The city of Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture was devastated after the Kuma River overflowed.
Businesses across Japan are slowly reopening even before the government makes its final decision on lifting a nationwide state of emergency.
More than half the country's prefectures are likely to ease restrictions put in place last month.
Public schools in Tottori Prefecture in western Japan were reopened for the first time on Thursday after they were closed on April 27.
The decision came after Japan's government allowed prefectures, other than those under a special alert, to ease some of the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Education authorities in Tokyo are thinking about keeping metropolitan high schools closed until early May to deal with the surge in the number of coronavirus infections in the capital.
Schools were temporarily closed in March, in line with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's request for shutdowns through spring break to contain the coronavirus.
Japan's education minister says the government plans to announce standards on reopening schools by the end of March.
Koichi Hagiuda spoke to reporters on Tuesday about standards that municipalities across the country can refer to when deciding the timing to resume classes.
Two cities in Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast have reopened their public elementary and junior high schools after being closed for two weeks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Classes resumed on Monday in the cities of Toyama and Kurobe.
Schools in Japan are busy responding to a request from the government to close down, starting on Monday.
The education ministry on Friday morning asked education boards across the country to shut their schools for about two weeks. That would be until spring break. This is part of efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the government is planning to ask all elementary, junior and senior high schools and special support schools in the country to shut down from Monday, until the start of the spring holidays, in a bid to reduce the risk of students catching the new coronavirus.
Abe unveiled the plan on Thursday at a meeting of the government's taskforce on the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will ask all elementary and high schools across the country to temporarily close beginning Monday.
The development comes after a man in his 80s who was infected with the new coronavirus died in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. Fifteen new cases of infection were reported there on Thursday.
Rising concerns over the spread of the coronavirus are forcing hundreds of schools in Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido to close for about a week.
The closure applies to more than 1,600 public elementary, junior high and special needs schools. The majority cancelled classes from Thursday.
Japan's education minister says the government has asked education boards with reported coronavirus cases to temporarily close schools.
Koichi Hagiuda told reporters on Tuesday that education boards of Hokkaido in northern Japan and Chiba City near Tokyo have been told to take this preventive measure.