South Korea has yesterday reported 323 new COVID-19 cases as health officials prepare to tighten distancing restrictions in greater Seoul.
The 16th consecutive day of triple-digit jumps brought the national caseload to 19,400. Fatalities reached 321 after five more deaths overnight.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 249 of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country’s 51 million people live.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Health workers have struggled to track infections linked to churches, restaurants and schools.
The country has added 4,630 cases over the last 16 days, raising fears about overwhelming hospitals.
South Korean National Health Institute Director Kwon Jun-wook said that the death toll could rise in the coming weeks, as many of those who tested positive this month were aged 60 or above, an age group that is more likely to experience serious health complications caused by the virus.
Kwon added that 64 of the country’s active patients are in critical condition, compared to 14 on Aug. 14, when the country began the current streak of triple-digit daily increases.
“While young people may think that COVID-19 is an illness they could recover from after a certain period, it could become a matter of life and death for their parents and grandparents,” Kwon said during a virus briefing, pleading for vigilance in social distancing. “Each and every one of us ... is at war with COVID-19. In war, we need to maintain unity to protect the safety of ourselves and our neighbors and prevent the collapse of all our social systems.”
More than 1,000 infections have been linked to a church led by a conservative pastor who opposes the country’s president.
For eight days starting today, restaurants in the Seoul metropolitan area are to provide only deliveries and takeouts after 9pm. Franchised coffee shops like Starbucks are to sell only takeout drinks and food while gyms and after-school academies are to stay shut to slow the viral spread in the region.
Meanwhile, about one-third of students returned to school in Beijing, in a staggered start to the new school year because of COVID-19. The first batch of 590,000 students in the Chinese capital included all three years of high school, the first and third years of middle school and the first grade of primary school.
Another 400,000 students are to start school on Tuesday next week, and the final 520,000 on Sept. 7. Students and teachers are required to wear masks.
China yesterday reported nine new COVID-19 cases within 24 hours, bringing its official total to 85,022. All new cases were arrivals from abroad. The country’s death toll remained at 4,634.
India recorded 76,472 new cases within 24 hours, raising its tally to over 3.4 million.
A country of 1.4 billion people, India now has the fastest-growing caseload in the world. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare yesterday also reported 1,021 deaths for a total of 62,550. In the past few weeks, India has been reporting about 1,000 COVID-19 deaths per day.
Malaysia has extended its COVID-19 movement restrictions including banning foreign tourists until the end of the year. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address on Friday that the country has seen sporadic virus clusters, even though the situation was under control. Malaysia has recorded more than 9,000 cases with 125 deaths.
The Australian state of Victoria has reported 18 more COVID-19 deaths and 94 new cases — the first time in almost two months that new infections have dropped below 100. The deaths take the state’s toll to 514, while the nation has overall recorded 601 deaths.
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