New virus cases under 1,000, daily death toll hits new high
Makeshift containers with sickbeds for COVID-19 patients were built at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang District on Monday. Yonhap
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 for the first time in six days Monday, mainly due to less testing over the weekend, as health authorities ramped up efforts to contain the faster spread of the virus. The daily virus death toll also hit a record high amid rising patients.
The country added 926 more COVID-19 cases, including 892 local infections, raising the total caseload to 50,591, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The tally marked a decline from 1,097 cases Sunday, 1,053 Saturday and 1,062 Friday.
In another grim milestone, the nation's total caseload exceeded 50,000. It took only 11 days for the total infections to surpass the 50,000 mark. South Korea's total caseload surpassed 40,000 on Dec. 10.
To help find unconfirmed infections with no symptoms, authorities have expanded anonymous testing in the greater Seoul area since Dec. 14. A total of 479 infections have been confirmed through such testing so far, the KDCA said.
With one-day virus case totals running at all-time highs last week, health authorities were considering whether to raise the country's social distancing guidelines to Level 3, the highest in its five-tier scheme.
However, authorities said they are aiming to contain the current wave of the pandemic without raising virus curbs to Level 3 on concerns over impacts on the economy.
Level 3 can be adopted when locally transmitted cases hover between 800 and 1,000 for a week or the daily tally doubles from the previous day.
If the toughest curbs are imposed, more than 2 million shops and facilities will be ordered to be shut down.
Emergency Medical Center at Jeju National University Hospital, a state-designated facility for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in Jeju Island. The hospital recently saw two hospitalized patients who contracted COVID-19 on Dec. 20, triggering an alarm. Yonhap
South Korea has been applying Level 2.5 social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, home to half of its 51.6 million population, and Level 2 rules in the rest of the country.
Chains of cluster infections at facilities that include nursing homes and churches, and through private gatherings, continued to pop up.
A relentless spike in virus cases spawned concerns about a shortage of hospital beds and a rise in fatalities. Health authorities issued a rare order to private hospitals Friday to secure more intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients.
Of the newly identified local infections, 327 cases were reported in Seoul and 237 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, west of Seoul, reported 85 more cases.
Other municipalities reported new infections, with the country's largest port city of Busan adding 19 cases and South Gyeongsang Province reporting 15 new cases.
South Korea reported 24 additional deaths, raising the death toll to 698. The fatality rate was 1.38 percent.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 274, compared with 278 from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 35,155, up 433 from the previous day.
The country, meanwhile, added 34 imported cases, increasing the total to 5,116. Twelve cases came from the United States, followed by nine from Russia and four from Germany.
The country has carried out 3,713,861 coronavirus tests since Jan. 3. The country reported the first case on Jan. 20. (Yonhap)