Foreign
SOUTH Korean Health Authorities have expressed concern as the country reported the highest daily increase in novel coronavirus infections in nine days, agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday.
“On Tuesday, 36 new cases were detected, bringing the country’s total to 11,110,’’ the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.
Clusters have emerged in the capital city Seoul, including a new one at the major Samsung hospital, where on Tuesday four nurses tested positive for the virus.
Contact-tracing is currently underway for everyone who came in contact with the nurses.
Itaewon, a popular entertainment district in Seoul, became the centre of South Korea’s fight against COVID-19 after an infected man visited multiple night clubs on May 2.
Thousands of others were at the clubs at the time he attended.
So far, 193 people who were at the clubs or people they later came into contact with, have tested positive for COVID-19.
Though the development sparked worries that it could cause a new wave of infections, the number of linked cases has not reached the level authorities feared.
South Korean officials said they relied on intensive testing to control the outbreak, testing up to 60,000 people in relation to the Itaewon incident.
The country’s death toll did not increase overnight and stands at 263.
South Korea has largely managed to control its coronavirus outbreak following a peak at the end of February, during which it was recording over 900 cases a day.
NAN
– May 20, 2020 @ 10:09 GMT /
Tags: South Korea sees slight uptick in virus cases from Seoul clusters
