Korea adds 393 new COVID-19 cases, gov't eases business curfew outside greater Seoul

A man undergoes a COVID-19 test Friday when the country's daily new infections stayed below 400 for a second consecutive day. This led the government to relax operating hour restrictions for certain businesses outside the greater Seoul area. Yonhap

The country's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed below 400 for a second consecutive day Friday, leading the government to relax operating hour restrictions for certain businesses outside the greater Seoul area.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Saturday that it had detected 393 new infections, including 366 local ones, raising the cumulative caseload to 80,524.

This is higher than the 370 reported Thursday but lower than the previous day's 451.

There were also five additional deaths raising the total to 1,464.

The virus caseload has stayed within the 300 to 400 range recently due to infection clusters at unauthorized education facilities run by a Christian missionary group in the central and southwestern regions.

Concerns over yet another outbreak are growing as the country will celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday from Thursday to next Saturday.

Despite the risks, the government announced it will allow some businesses, such as restaurants and fitness clubs, outside the Seoul metropolitan region to extend their operating hours by one hour to 10 p.m.

Presiding over a daily COVID-19 response meeting, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun explained the government was taking into consideration the growing demand from businesses that have taken the brunt of the economic impact from COVID-19.

Seoul and the surrounding areas are under Level 2.5 social distancing restrictions, the second highest in the five-tier system. The 9 p.m. closing will be maintained for these areas.

"More than 70 percent of the infections are in the Seoul metropolitan area, and the risks remain high," Chung said at the meeting.

The current distancing rules, effective until Feb. 14, are mainly aimed at banning gatherings of five or more people. (Yonhap)