South Korea’s Moon warns of second wave of Covid-19 as cases recover

SEOUL: South Korea warned of a second wave of the new coronavirus on Sunday when the infections recovered to a maximum of a month, just as authorities began easing some pandemic restrictions.

“It won’t end until it’s over,” President Moon Jae-in told the nation, saying a new group shows the virus can spread widely at any time, and warned of a second wave later this year.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 34 new infections, the highest since April 9, after a small outbreak erupted around a series of nightclubs, prompting authorities to temporarily close all nightly entertainment facilities in the capital.

The death toll remained at 256.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said the government will decide whether to reopen the schools in stages starting May 13, as planned, after examining the impact of the nightclub cases for two or three days.

Fighting the first major coronavirus outbreak outside of China, South Korea brought virus infections and the COVID-19 disease it causes, dramatically declining through widespread testing, tracking apps, and aggressive contact tracking. The response has helped Asia’s fourth largest economy cope with the pandemic without extensive blockages seen elsewhere.

The daily count of new infections had hovered around 10 or less in the past few weeks, with very few domestic cases in the past 10 days.