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| ▲ This photo taken on Jan. 31, 2021, shows people waiting for a coronavirus test at a clinical center in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
coronavirus-additional cases
New virus cases in 300s for 2nd day amid extended curbs
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 300s for the second straight day on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid extended tough virus curbs.
The country added 305 more COVID-19 cases, including 285 local infections, raising the total caseload to 78,508, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The figure fell from 355 cases Sunday, 458 Saturday and 469 Friday. On Sunday, the tally fell back to the 300s for the first time in five days.
New virus cases recently spiked again due mainly to cluster infections from unauthorized education facilities run by a local Christian missionary group, called the International Mission (IM).
Amid a flare-up in virus cases, health authorities on Sunday extended Level 2.5 social distancing rules, the second highest in its five-tier scheme, in the greater Seoul area and Level 2 measures in other regions for another two weeks until Feb. 14.
Under the extended rules, gatherings of five or more people are also banned almost across the entire country.
After the third wave of the pandemic peaked at a record high of 1,241 on Dec. 25, new virus infections have been slowing down.
But health authorities believed relaxing the curbs runs the risk of an uptick as cluster infections have continued to pop up at religious facilities, hospitals and other risk-prone establishments.
Of the newly identified local infections, 104 cases were reported in Seoul and 89 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, reported 11 more cases.
The southern city of Gwangju reported 32 more virus cases, and Busan also added 15 more cases.
The country, meanwhile, added 20 imported cases, increasing the total to 6,328. Eight cases came from Asian countries excluding China, followed by five from the United States, four from Europe and three from Africa.
The country added five more deaths, raising the total to 1,425. The fatality rate was 1.82 percent.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 225, down from 229 a day earlier.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 68,309, up 431 from the previous day.
The country has carried out 5,661,842 coronavirus tests since Jan. 3, 2020. The country reported its first case on Jan. 20 last year.
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