New virus cases bounce back to over 100 on untraceable cases
Seoul Gangdong-gu District Mayor Lee Jung-hun, left, meets one of the merchants at Dunchon-dong Subway Station street market in the district's Dunchon-dong area on Sept. 22. Yonhap
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rebounded to over 100 on Wednesday, snapping three consecutive days of a two-digit rise, as sporadic cluster infections, coupled with untraceable cases, continued to pop up across the country.
The country added 110 more COVID-19 cases, including 99 local infections, raising the total caseload to 23,216, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Wednesday's daily tally marks a sharp increase from 61 cases reported Tuesday, the lowest number since Aug. 13, when the comparable figure was 56. The country had reported less than 100 new virus cases for the third consecutive day since Sunday.
The country's new daily infections had been in triple digits for more than a month since Aug. 14 due to cases tied to a church in Seoul and an anti-government rally before briefly falling below 100.
Health authorities said the daily new cases are showing signs of a decline but warned that it is a matter of time before the daily figures jump above the 100 threshold again due to the rising number of patients with unknown infection routes.
Over the past two weeks, 26.6 percent of the newly added cases had unknown infection routes, according to the latest data. Around 25 percent of additional patients were traced to group infections as well.
Against this backdrop, the country opted Sunday to extend the Level 2 social distancing scheme nationwide until Sept. 27.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, left, leads a central disaster safety countermeasure meeting regarding COVID-19 at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu District, Sept. 23. Yonhap
The country operates a three-tier social distancing system. Under the second level, all indoor gatherings of 50 or more people are banned, while the ceiling is 100 for outdoor meetings.
Public facilities such as museums or libraries are closed, along with high-risk facilities such as karaoke rooms and clubs.
The decision also came amid concerns that the spread of the virus may accelerate again during the upcoming Chuseok holiday, which runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. Millions of South Koreans travel across the nation to meet their families and relatives during Chuseok.
South Korea will also have a three-day break from Oct. 9 to 11, when Hanguel Day, which celebrates the Korean alphabet, is combined with the weekend.
Health authorities have been urging people to stay home over the holidays.
Chains of cluster infections especially haunted schools, residential buildings, and hospitals across the country.
Of the additional locally transmitted cases, 40 came from Seoul, and 28 were reported from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Incheon, located west of Seoul, added five more patients.
Infections tied to last month's anti-government rallies came to 622 as of Tuesday, just up three from the previous day.
People queue up at National Medical Center in Seoul's Jung-gu District, Sept. 23, to receive a check-up on possible COVID-19 infection. Yonhap
A sauna facility located in the Gwanak Ward of the capital city reached 13.
Fourteen more patients were also traced to a residential building in southern Seoul, raising the total to 39.
Severance Hospital in western Seoul added four more patients, bringing the related caseload to 50 as of the previous day.
In Busan, one more patient was reported from Dong-A University, raising the total number of related cases to 13.
The number of patients in serious or critical condition came to xxx, up xxx from the previous day.
The number of imported cases came to 11.
The death toll remained unchanged at 388.
A total of 20,650 people have been released from quarantine after making full recoveries, up 209 from the previous day.
The country's daily COVID-19 cases peaked in February by reaching 909. Since last month, the highest figure was 441 cases added Aug. 27. (Yonhap)