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| With South Korea's annual national college entrance exam slated on Dec. 3, the country's health inspectors on Nov. 26 disinfect a classroom in Daegu, one of the places where the exam will be held, to prevent spread of COVID-19. Yonhap |
The daily number of novel coronavirus cases in South Korea exceeded 500 for the second straight day Friday as health authorities grapple with sporadic cluster infections across the country amid the third wave of the pandemic.
The country added 569 more COVID-19 cases, including 525 local infections, raising the total caseload to 32,887, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
It marks the first time the country's daily virus cases exceeded 500 for the second straight day since the first wave of infections in late February when a massive outbreak swept through Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
The daily caseload has stayed in the triple digits since Nov. 8, with the figure above 300 since Nov. 18, except for Monday.
The latest figure is slightly down from 583 cases Thursday when the daily tally spiked to over an eight-month high, but health authorities worry that the third wave of infections is still in progress.
Health authorities have been trying to curb another wave of virus infections before a nationwide college exam next week, but cluster infections from private gatherings, public facilities, hospitals and the military are dragging down their containment efforts.
The authorities raised the social distancing level by one notch to Level 2, the third highest in the country's five-tier system, in the Seoul metropolitan area, where the majority of virus cases have been identified, and began to apply enhanced measures Tuesday.
Other municipalities also have been enforcing tougher distancing rules depending on their virus situation. Level 1.5 distancing is currently in place in Gangwon Province and the country's southwestern Jeolla region.
But since the country's virus infections show no signs of letup, health authorities and municipal authorities are likely to review options of enforcing further toughened social distancing rules in the coming days.
The country reported one additional death from COVID-19, raising the total to 516.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 27,103, up 153 from the previous day. (Yonhap)
