New virus cases exceed 200 for first time in 73 days
New COVID-19 cases exceeded 200 for Friday, the first time in 73 days, amid lingering infection clusters nationwide, with the health authorities considering raising social distancing guidelines by one notch in their five-tier system. Yonhap
New COVD-19 cases in the country exceeded 200 for the first time in 73 days, Friday, amid lingering infection clusters nationwide, with the health authorities considering raising social distancing guidelines by a notch in the five-tier system.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 205 more cases, including 166 local infections, raising the total caseload to 28,338. This marked the first time for the daily figure to surpass 200 since 267 cases added Sept. 2.
The number of new infections has now stayed in triple digits for the seventh consecutive day ― daily new infections reached 191 for Thursday and 143 for Wednesday.
The KDCA also reported four additional deaths, raising the total to 492 for a fatality rate of 1.74 percent.
The health authorities attributed the sharp growth to chains of infection clusters from private gatherings and public facilities, which has made it more difficult for them to identify transmission routes.
South Korea saw its number of daily new infections peak at 909 in late February, after a major infection cluster was reported at a minor church sect in Daegu.
The country faced another wave in August, with the figure reaching 441, Aug. 27, due to cases traced to another church in northern Seoul, coupled with an anti-government demonstration.
With signs of a possible slowdown, however, the government has kept Level 1 social distancing guidelines across the country since earlier this month, although some cities and provincial governments raised their infection preventive measures.
Asan and Cheonan, both located in central South Chungcheong Province, adopted tougher measures last week. Wonju in Gangwon Province and Gwangyang and Suncheon in South Jeolla Province also raised their social distancing guidelines to Level 1.5 this week.
Yeosu, located 455 kilometers south of Seoul, is also among the regions that enhanced guidelines.
Under Level 1, people are required to follow basic rules, such as wearing masks, while gatherings of over 500 people are discouraged.
People are still allowed to carry on with most of their daily activities Level 1.5, but gatherings of 100 or more people will be regulated, though not completely banned.
In line with efforts to curb the spread of the virus, the government started fining people who fail to wear masks in public places up to 100,000 won (US$90). Operators of such facilities and rally organizers can be fined up to 3 million won if they fail to ensure that users or participants stick to the requirements.
Among the locally transmitted cases, the capital accounted for 63, and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, 46. The greater Seoul area houses around half of the nation's population.
Gangwon Province added 18 more infections, followed by South Jeolla Province with 13 and South Chungcheon Province with 11.
Cases tied to medical facilities and senior citizens nursing homes in Gunpo, south of Seoul, came to 154, and those linked to an elementary school in Pocheon, north of Seoul, reached 22.
The country added 39 imported cases, among which, the United States accounted for 10, followed by Russia with six and Poland with five.
There were also cases from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Japan.
South Korean nationals accounted for 55 percent of these cases.
The KDCA said the number of seriously or critically ill patients was 54, up four from Thursday.
The number of people released from quarantine after making a recovery came to 25,636, up 99 from the previous day. This indicates 90.4 percent of patients reported here are recovering.
South Korea has carried out 2,777,289 COVID-19 tests, including 15,878, Friday. (Yonhap)