No. of new virus cases falls below 100 for first time in more than a month
People wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk under a banner informing mandatory mask wearing in front of Seoul City Hall in Seoul, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. AP
South Korea's new coronavirus cases dipped below 100 for the first time in more than a month on Sunday on the back of the country's strict social distancing scheme, but untraceable infections still pose a challenge to the country's virus fight.
The country added 82 more COVID-19 cases, including 72 local infections, taking the total caseload to 22,975, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
It marked the first time for the daily tally to fall below 100 since Aug. 14.
The two-digit figure, however, apparently came as fewer tests are normally carried out over the weekend.
The country's new daily infections have been in the triple digits for more than a month on a surge in cases tied to a church in northern Seoul and an anti-government rally in mid-August.
The greater Seoul area that houses around half of the nation's population earlier adopted the so-called enhanced social distancing policy, which made it mandatory for restaurants to offer only takeout after 9 p.m. This was lifted last week, but the Level 2 scheme is still in force nationwide.
South Korea will decide later in the day whether to extend the Level 2 scheme for areas outside the greater Seoul area.
Cases with unknown transmission routes accounted for a record high of 28.1 percent of all cases reported in the past two weeks, according to the latest data provided on Saturday.
The upcoming Chuseok fall harvest holiday that falls later this month, a tradition that entails mass movements of people and family gatherings, is also among the major concerns for local health authorities.
Of the additional locally transmitted cases, 28 came from Seoul, and 24 were reported from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Incheon, located west of Seoul, added three more patients.
As of Saturday, a total of 24 cases linked to a property developer in Seoul's Gangnam district has been confirmed since the first related case was reported Tuesday.
Those traced to Yonsei Severance Hospital in western Seoul reached 48, while a nursing home in Goyang, north of the capital, reported a total of 19 cases. Cases tied to production lines of Kia Motors Corp. reached 16 as well.
Infections tied to last month's anti-government rallies came to 613. On the previous day, the Seoul city government said it will sue the pastor who led the demonstrations for exacerbating the outbreak and hampering authorities' tracing work by instructing followers to give false information.
The number of imported cases came to 10.
The death toll rose by five to 383.
Health authorities are concerned that the number of deaths may rise further down the road as most of the patients in critical condition are seniors.
A total of 20,158 people has been released from quarantine after making full recoveries, up 188 from the previous day. (Yonhap)