SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean students have begun returning to schools as their country prepare for a new normal amid the coronavirus outbreak in the Asian country.

Wednesday’s reopening of schools come as South Korea reported 32 new cases over a 24-hour period, the first time its daily jump has marked above 30 in nine days.

Hundreds of thousands of high school seniors in South Korea were allowed to go back to their schools earlier Wednesday. The education ministry says lower-level students are set to go back to schools in phased steps in coming weeks.

Students and teachers are required to have temperature checks before entering schools and wear masks at classrooms. The education ministry says some schools installed plastic partitions at each student’s desk.

South Korea’s new school year was supposed to start in early March, but it had been delayed several times due to worries about the spread of the coronavirus. About 5.4 million students in South Korea have been subsequently taking classes online.

South Korea relaxed much of its social distancing rules in early May. But it quickly saw a small but sudden spike in new infections linked to nightclubs in Seoul. Those latest outbreaks had been on a downward trend until Tuesday.