New virus cases hover around 60 for 2nd day, imported cases in focus

A woman wearing a face mask to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus pulls her shopping cart in Seoul, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. AP

South Korea's new daily virus cases came in at around 60 for the second straight day on Friday as the country grapple with rising imported cases and an uptick in local infections.

The country added 60 cases, including 39 imported cases, raising the total to 13,672, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

It marks the third time this week that the daily rise of virus cases reached 60 or above, following 62 new infections reported on Monday and 61 cases on Thursday.

Infections coming in from overseas have been on high plateau for weeks, rising by double-digit numbers for 22 consecutive days.

Of the 39 additional imported cases, 25 were detected at quarantine checkpoints of airports and sea ports. The total number of imported cases is now 2,005.

Of the newly identified cases coming in from overseas, a large portion has traced to Iraq, with dozens of South Korean workers returning home from the Middle Eastern country testing positive for COVID-19 in recent days.

To bring the remaining workers home safely, the government said it plans to send a chartered flight to Iraq next week. At least 800 South Korean workers are in Iraq, for a slew of construction projects, where the daily number of virus infections reaches around 2,000.

South Korea is also alert over potential group infections tied to Russian-flagged vessels docked in the southern city of Busan. At least 19 virus-infected crewmen were confirmed to have contracted the virus on three ships.

It follows a cluster infection linked to Russia-flagged ships in Busan last month when 19 related cases reported.

Due to rising cases involving Russian seafarers, health authorities said they will conduct virus tests on all crewmembers of Russian ships that have a lot of contact with local workers.

To stem a further rise in imported cases, South Korea since Monday has required arrivals from four high-risk nations ― Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan ― to submit a certificate showing they tested negative for the virus.

South Korea will add two more countries from Monday, although it has not specified the countries for diplomatic reasons.

The number of new local infections bounced back to surpass 20 for the first time in five days following sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 across the country.

Of the 21 local transmissions, seven were reported in Seoul, five in Gyeonggi Province, surrounding the nation's capital.

Gwangju added five more cases. The country's southern resort island of Jeju also confirmed three cases of the novel coronavirus.

South Korea reported two additional deaths from the virus, bringing the death toll to 293, according to the KCDC.

The total number of people released from quarantine after full recoveries stood at 12,460, up 64 from the previous day, while 919 are currently under treatment, down six from a day earlier.

The country has carried out 1,451,017 tests since Jan. 3. (Yonhap)