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| People use a rapid self-test kit for COVID-19 detection as a part of precaution against the coronavirus disease before entering a music festival venue in Seoul, June 26. AP-Yonhap |
South Korea's daily new virus cases stayed in the 600s for the fifth straight day Sunday as health authorities brace for revamped social distancing rules while pushing to accelerate vaccinations.
The country reported 614 more COVID-19 cases, including 570 local infections, raising the total caseload to 155,071, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The latest figure was down 54 from the previous day but still worrisome as daily virus cases on Sundays had been below 600 in June.
Daily caseloads here have been going through some ups and downs between the 300s and 700s in recent months with no significant signs of a letup due to sporadic cluster infections nationwide.
The country added one more death, raising the death toll to 2,013. The fatality rate was 1.3 percent.
South Korea will implement a new social distancing scheme Thursday, aimed at allowing businesses to extend operating hours and easing restrictions on social gatherings in accordance with the country's accelerating vaccination drive.
The greater Seoul area is now under Level 2 distancing, the third highest in the current five-level scheme, while the rest of the country is under Level 1.5. Private gatherings of five or more are banned nationwide.
Health authorities will announce the level of social distancing for each region under the new four-tier system later in the day.
The capital area is expected to be at Level 2 under the revamped distancing scheme, in which restaurants and cafes will be allowed to stay open till midnight, while bars and other nightlife facilities will be allowed to resume business. Currently, restaurants and cafes are allowed to run till only 10 p.m., while the operations of bars and other nightlife establishments are suspended.
The nationwide ban on gatherings of five or more people will also be lifted under the renewed guidelines, with the ceiling expected to go up in stages to eight.
In regions outside of the greater Seoul area, Level 1 is expected to be applied in the new four-tier system, in which all restrictions on business operations and on the size of social gatherings will be abolished.
Of the newly confirmed domestic cases, the capital area accounted for 76.7 percent, with 242 from Seoul, 171 from Gyeonggi Province and 24 from Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital. The southeastern port city of Busan added 12 cases.
There were 44 additional imported cases, down 13 from a day earlier, raising the total to 9,818.
Health authorities are especially focusing on the highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus.
The number of patients in serious or critical condition came to 147, down two from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 146,340, up 351 from a day earlier, with 6,718 people being isolated for COVID-19 treatment, up 262 from a day ago. (Yonhap)
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