Outbreak in Busan drives up daily new COVID-19 cases
Citizens wait in line to undergo COVID-19 testing at the National Medical Center in Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
The country's daily number of new COVID-19 infections has bounced back to three digits due mainly to an outbreak at a geriatric hospital in Busan in addition to other sporadic infection clusters in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Thursday.
The KDCA said the nation added 110 cases for Wednesday, up from 84 identified for the day before and raising the total caseload to 24,988.
Among the 110, 95 were locally transmitted cases, including 53 inpatients and employees at the Busan hospital who have tested positive since an assistant nurse was confirmed to have COVID-19, Tuesday.
The hospital infections came after the government lowered social distancing guidelines to their lowest ― Level 1 ― Monday, based on the belief that the country's coronavirus situation had been showing signs of a slowdown.
The government adopted the three-tier social distancing system June 28. But the number of daily new local infections was well over the benchmark of less than 50 set by the health authorities to implement Level 1.
The authorities are bracing for the possibility of additional cases emerging as they have decided to carry out tests on about 160,000 inpatients and employees at geriatric and psychiatric hospitals in Seoul and its surrounding areas, as a precaution against further infections.
“The government will continue to expand coronavirus testing to other facilities that are at a higher risk of infections, in cooperation with local governments,” said Lee Sang-won in charge of crisis response at the KDCA. “But testing cannot prevent all infections. It is more important for people to comply with anti-virus guidelines such as wearing face masks and washing hands frequently to stop the spread of the infection.”
Other sporadic infection clusters reported in the Seoul metropolitan area include 65 cases traced to a hospital in Seoul's Dobong District, as of noon Thursday.
The KDCA added 15 were traced to a funeral hall in Seoul's Seodaemun District, while 25 were traced to social gatherings in Dongducheon, northern Gyeonggi Province.
On the other hand, the number of imported cases from overseas fell to 15, from 31 reported Wednesday and 33 Monday.
Among the 15, six were detected at airports or seaports, while nine tested positive during their 14-day self-quarantine period.
Meanwhile, police announced Thursday that it was not giving permission for the holding of large-scale outdoor rallies planned by conservative civic groups, citing concerns over coronavirus transmission at places where many people gather.
The decision came as civic groups critical of the Moon Jae-in government were pushing to hold massive rallies to be participated in by more than 1,000 people in central Seoul this and next Sunday.