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| A lab researcher shows a vial of COVID-19 antibody vaccine developed by Celltrion at the South Korean pharmaceutical company's factory in Incheon on Dec. 22. The company began testing the vaccine, "CT-P59," in clinical trials. Yonhap |
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose to above 1,000 for the first time in three days Wednesday, as the nation imposed the most stringent social distancing rules so far to contain the winter wave of the virus.
The country added 1,092 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,060 local infections, raising the total caseload to 52,550, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It was the second-highest one-day tally of confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The tally marked a jump from 869 cases Tuesday, 926 cases Monday, 1,097 cases Sunday, 1,053 Saturday and 1,062 last Friday.
Seventeen people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 739.
Health authorities have been 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 the impact on the economy.
Instead of applying measures that would deal a severe blow to millions of small merchants, health authorities have deployed "targeted" virus curbs.
Starting Wednesday, the greater Seoul area banned gatherings of five or more people. Restaurants in the greater Seoul area will face a fine if they allow gatherings of more than four people. The strongest-ever measures will be applied nationwide starting Thursday as well.
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| Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who visited Celltrion's Incheon factory on Dec. 22, looks into a microscope to check cell movements of the company's potential COVID-19 antibody vaccine that is now going through clinical trials. Yonhap |
Ski resorts and famous tourism venues will be shut down to slow the spread of the virus during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season.
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.
Of the newly identified local infections, 373 cases were reported in Seoul and 299 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, west of Seoul, reported 46 more cases.
Other municipalities reported new infections, with the country's largest port city of Busan adding 32 cases and the southern island of Jeju reporting 33 new cases.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 284, compared with 281 from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 36,726, up 798 from the previous day.
The country, meanwhile, added 32 imported cases, increasing the total to 5,193.
Nine cases came from Indonesia, followed by six cases from the United States and five from Russia.
The country has carried out 3,826,571 coronavirus tests since Jan. 3, including 54,141 tests in the past 24 hours. The country reported its first case on Jan. 20. (Yonhap)
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