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| Police in Daegu set up a barricade in front of Hansarang Hospital for the elderly which saw dozens of new coronavirus cases, in Daegu, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
Korea continued to see a daily increase in new COVID-19 cases as cluster infections appeared in Daegu, the epicenter of the outbreak here, and other regions, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Thursday.
There were 152 new cases reported Wednesday, a number back up to three-digit figures after infections had been tallied in double-digits for three days, bringing the total number of infections to 8,565, with 91 fatalities, the KCDC said.
Daegu alone added 97 new cases involving people staying in 11 elderly care centers including Hansarang in Suseong District. The Daegu Metropolitan Government said the count is likely to go up as its search for suspected patients in these facilities is ongoing. Daegu has 330 such care centers with 33,628 patients and medical service providers.
The government said more than 80 percent of infections occurred in small groups, which were similar to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus case in which thousands of people contracted the virus after spending hours together in closed spaces. They also transmitted the virus to their family members and acquaintances.
"The biggest worry concerning patients in these facilities is that they are a high risk group and the chances of them dying after contracting the virus are quite high. We're discussing more aggressive measures to prevent group infections," said Yoon Tae-ho, the government's quarantine chief, during a daily briefing Thursday.
Yoon replaced Kim Gang-lip, the vice health minister, who placed himself into self-quarantine the previous day after the news that Bunyang Jesaeng Hospital director Lee Young-sang had contracted the virus. Kim and Lee spent hours together at a meeting earlier this month.
At Incheon International Airport, Thursday, all 6,329 arrivals had their temperatures checked and were required to download a smartphone app for daily self-health checks before leaving the airport. Those who showed symptoms were sent to a facility nearby run by the National Sports Promotion Corporation for isolation while waiting for test results.
Among the arrivals were 80 Korean evacuees from Iran, who were ordered to isolate themselves.
The government expanded virus screening to all arrivals starting Thursday to detect people who had contracted the virus while traveling overseas. Sixteen "imported" cases were reported Wednesday, five more than the previous day. All had traveled in Europe.
The government said the number is likely to go up, as many Koreans, especially students in Europe, are scrambling to return home. Local media outlets quoted Korean students in London and Paris as saying that many of them were having difficulty purchasing airline tickets.
A national fencing athlete was one of the new virus patients. The female fencer came back to Korea March 15 from the women's Fencing World Cup in Budapest, Hungary. She later drew criticism because she left her home during a self-isolation period and visited Taean, South Chungcheong Province between March 17 and 18. She visited a virus testing clinic during her Taean trip and was confirmed to have been infected.
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