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Authorities warn they may have to toughen physical distancing measures to the highest level in the country if the spread continues.
South Korea reported 1,030 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, its biggest jump in a single day and the second consecutive daily record, pushing authorities to further toughen physical distancing rules.
Of the new cases, 1,002 were transmitted locally, the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KCDA) said, and most of the cases were linked to outbreaks in private gatherings, churches and a hospital in the Greater Seoul area.
The figure brought South Korea’s total number of cases to 42,766 infections with 580 deaths.
The East Asian country was praised for its previous success in containing COVID-19 without a lockdown by relying heavily on tracing and contact testing.
But Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Saturday that further tightening of the restriction on physical distancing to the nation’s highest level would be inevitable if the third wave of infections continues.
The Seoul metropolitan area is currently under level 2.5 restrictions, with nightclubs closed and restaurants allowed to provide only deliveries and takeout after 9 p.m. Raising the limits to 3, the highest of the five levels, would require that schools would switch to remote learning, allow only essential workers in offices, and ban gatherings of more than 10 people.
Workers make a temporary hospital ward outside the Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, December 10, 2020 [Heo Ran/ Reuters]
On Saturday, South Korea reported 950 new infections, prompting President Moon Jae-in to order the mobilization of police, military personnel and public physicians to support contact tracing and track infections.
“We will consider this as an emergency situation and we will put all our efforts in a short period of time, using all available administrative capacity,” he said in a message posted on Twitter.
Moon apologized for his government’s inability to contain the outbreak despite months of measures that damaged the economy. He also called for vigilance, saying the country was going through its “last crisis before the arrival of vaccines and treatment.”
The South Korean government has already secured access to vaccines for 88 percent of its population, or 44 million people, with the first doses due to arrive in March.
The latest wave, South Korea’s worst since the pandemic began, has rekindled concerns about a severe shortage of hospital beds, and authorities in the capital Seoul have begun installing container beds for the first time.
They also plan to increase testing by opening temporary centers at 150 locations in the Greater Seoul area, which is home to half of the country’s 52 million residents.
Antigen testing and another form of rapid test based on saliva samples will also be available at designated sites free of charge and regardless of whether individuals are experiencing symptoms.
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