New virus cases above 600 for 3rd day raise fears of another pandemic wave
Daily new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained in the 600s for the third straight day Friday as sporadic clusters were reported nationwide amid concerns of another wave of infections. Yonhap
Daily new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained in the 600s for the third straight day Friday as sporadic clusters were reported nationwide amid concerns of another wave of infections.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 627 more coronavirus cases, including 593 local ones, raising the total caseload to 122,634.
The tally was down from 661 new cases for Thursday and 680 Wednesday; while the number of locally transmitted cases fell below 600 for the first time since April 11.
The country also added three more deaths, raising the total death toll to 1,831.
The health authorities warned of another wave as infection clusters at various facilities, including restaurants and workplaces, continued amid the warm spring weather.
The number of new daily cases has shot up to near 800 in recent weeks after staying in the 300s to 400s in March.
The government decided Friday to extend its current social distancing rules and a ban on private gatherings of five or more people for three more weeks until May 23.
Currently, the greater Seoul area, home to more than half of the country's total population of 52 million people, is under Level 2 social distancing measures, the third highest in the administrations' five-tier plan, with the rest of the country under Level 1.5.
The government plans to apply a revamped social distancing system from July if daily virus cases remain under 1,000 by the end of June.
A total of 3.32 million people have received at least their first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine since the country started its vaccination program Feb. 26, accounting for 6.5 percent of the population.
AstraZeneca's vaccine has been given to 1.77 million people, while the same number has received Pfizer doses.
A total of 16,196 people complained of side-effects after vaccination, up 697 from a day earlier, but 98.1 percent of them experienced mild symptoms, including muscle pain and fever.
The KDCA said 75 deaths after vaccinations have been reported, up two from the previous day, but added that the exact causes remain unknown as it could not determine causality.
The country aims to vaccinate 12 million people by the end of June in a bid to achieve herd immunity by November.
Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 187 new infections, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province identified 187. The southern port city of Busan reported 28.
The number of new imported cases came to 34, raising the total to 8,356.
Patients experiencing serious symptoms across the country reached 174, up from 164, the KDCA said.
The total number of people released from quarantine after recovering from the infection was 112,337, up 915 from the previous day. (Yonhap)