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SEOUL: South Korean authorities called for vigilance on Saturday as small clusters of coronaviruses emerged in a third wave, focused on the Seoul area, with infections nearing nine-month highs.
The Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDCA) reported 583 new coronavirus infections, down from the 629 reported on Friday, which was the highest since the first wave peaked in February and early March.
After implementing tougher restrictions on Saturday, the government will decide on Sunday whether to further tighten restrictions in a country that had seen initial success through aggressive contact tracing and other measures.
Infections of the virus that causes COVID-19 averaged 487.9 this week, 80 cases more than the previous week. This wave of infections is different from the first two, which were driven by large-scale transmission, said Lim Sook-young, a KDCA official.
“The recent outbreaks are small, multiple, and spread throughout people’s daily lives,” Lim said at a news conference. “Keep in mind that the current wave is not limited to a specific group or place, but can be around our homes, relatives and acquaintances.”
Seoul accounted for 235 of the new infections. More than half of South Korea’s 52 million people live in and around the capital.
Among the small but widespread groups in Seoul, confirmed cases related to a dance class rose from nine to 249 in less than two weeks, while 21 people tested positive in a group related to a wine bar.
Seoul launched unprecedented curfews on Saturday, closing most establishments and stores at 9 p.m. (1200 GMT) for two weeks and cutting public transportation operations by 30 percent at night.
The tighter restrictions would be a blow to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which posted a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in October, the highest since July.
The number of people seriously or seriously ill with COVID-19 increased from five to 121, using more scam sickbeds from across the country, KDCA reported.
Health authorities said Friday that only 59 sick beds were immediately available for severe or severe cases and that the beds could be exhausted in less than two weeks.
South Korea has reported 36,915 coronavirus infections and 540 deaths, the KDCA said.
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