New virus cases under 400 for 3rd day ahead of eased social distancing
A medical worker in a booth takes a nasal sample from a woman at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. AP
South Korea's daily coronavirus cases were under 400 for the third consecutive day Sunday in the latest sign of a possible slowdown in the virus curve, with the country set to launch an eased social distancing scheme outside the greater Seoul area starting the next day.
The country added 372 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 326 local infections, raising the cumulative caseload to 80,896, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The country added 393 cases the previous day.
Since late last month, the local daily caseload has been moving in the 300-400 range due to cluster infections from unauthorized education facilities run by a Christian missionary group in the central and southwestern regions.
New virus infections nevertheless have been slowing down since the third wave of the pandemic peaked at a record high of 1,241 daily cases on Dec. 25.
With small business owners strongly protesting the country's tough social distancing scheme, which currently bans restaurants from having dine-in customers after 9:00 p.m., a revised guideline will be implemented starting Monday.
The new rules will extend operating hours of restaurants, cafes, bars and fitness clubs outside the Seoul metropolitan region by one hour to 10 p.m. The 9 p.m. closing will be maintained for Seoul and the surrounding areas.
Authorities, however, are especially vigilant over the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday that runs from Thursday to Saturday. Millions of South Koreans normally travel across the country to visit their relatives and families.
Accordingly, other details of the social distancing guideline, including the ban on the gathering of five or more people, will be maintained through next Sunday. South Korea operates a five-tier alert system.
The capital area is currently under the second-highest level of 2.5, while Level 2 is imposed in other areas.
South Korea also has so far identified 51 cases of COVID-19 variants, known to be much more contagious.
Of the newly identified local infections, 141 cases were reported in Seoul and 109 cases in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, reported 15 more cases. The three regions represent around half of the nation's population.
The southeastern cities of Busan and Daegu accounted for eight and 11 cases, respectively.
Imported cases came to 46.
The United States accounted for 10 cases, with arrivals from Russia and Indonesia also being responsible for four cases each.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 190, down seven from a day earlier.
South Korea added seven more deaths, raising the total to 1,471.
The fatality rate came to 1.82 percent.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was up 360 from the previous day to reach 70,865. This indicates around 87.6 percent of the total patients reported here being cured.
South Korea has carried out 5,916,975 COVID-19 tests so far, including 23,622 the previous day. (Yonhap)