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| Daily new COVID-19 cases rose back to above 600 in South Korea for Friday, the health authorities said Saturday, as a fourth wave of the coronavirus continues with sporadic infection clusters and the appearance of variant strains. Yonhap |
Daily new COVID-19 cases here rose back above 600 for Friday, the health authorities said Saturday, as a fourth wave of the coronavirus continues with sporadic infection clusters and the appearance of variant strains.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 666 more COVID-19 infections, including 633 local ones, raising the total caseload to 135,344.
The new daily cases compare with 561 for Thursday, 646 for Wednesday and 554, Tuesday.
Four additional deaths were also recorded, raising the total to 1,926.
Currently, the greater Seoul area, home to more than half of the country’s 52 million people, is under Level 2 social distancing measures, the third highest in the government’s five-tier system, while the rest of the country is mostly subject to Level 1.5. Gatherings of five or more people are also banned nationwide in principle.
On Friday, the administration said it would extend the current distancing rules for another three weeks starting Monday, as the number of new daily average patients has not dropped below the 500 mark with more people enjoying warm weather activities.
The KDCA also noted that more than 1,000 people were infected with variant strains of COVID-19 from Britain, South Africa, Brazil and India, with southern cities, such as Ulsan, reporting the most cases.
While the government launched its vaccination program Feb. 26, it has been sluggish in inoculating South Koreans amid a tight supply of vaccines.
As of Friday, 1.7 million people, or 3.3 percent of the country’s population, had been fully vaccinated, receiving both doses of a two-part regimen.
A total of 3.79 million people, or 7.4 percent, have received their first shots, up 13,764 from a day earlier.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been given to 2.06 million people, while 1.73 million have received that from Pfizer.
Under the country’s vaccination blueprint, South Korea aims to inoculate 13 million people by the end of June and achieve herd immunity by November.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 205 came from Seoul, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province accounted for 163.
The number of people released from quarantine after making a recovery was 874. (Yonhap)
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