[ad_1]
SEOUL: Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and surrounding areas banned gatherings of more than four people during the Christmas and New Year holidays, as the country recorded its highest daily death toll from COVID-19 on Monday ( December 21).
The national government has resisted calls for a strict national lockdown, but the governments of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon City ordered unprecedented restrictions on meetings from December 23 to January 3.
“We cannot overcome the current crisis without reducing cluster infections that are spreading through private meetings with families, friends and colleagues,” Seoul Acting Mayor Seo Jung-hyup said at a briefing.
“This is the last chance to break the spread.”
READ: South Korea to open more COVID-19 testing sites
The gathering ban applies to all indoor and outdoor functions, except funerals and weddings. Gatherings of more than nine people are currently prohibited.
The two cities and the province account for about half of South Korea’s 51 million residents.
Within Seoul, restaurants and similar venues accounted for 41.4 percent of cluster infections in the past four weeks, followed by 16.9 percent for offices, 15.5 percent for places of worship. and 12.3 percent of medical facilities and nursing homes, according to local information. government data.
Police raided dozens of venues, including karaoke bars and clubs, suspected of violating social distancing rules Friday, charging 35 people, the city said in a statement.
As of midnight Sunday, there were 24 additional deaths, bringing the country’s total to 698, the Korea Agency for Disease Prevention and Control said.
There were another 926 coronavirus cases, down from a record 1,097 the day before.
As of Sunday, only four beds remained in the intensive care unit in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to health officials.
The government ordered private hospitals to free up more than 300 beds for coronavirus patients, and has allocated $ 4.5 million to compensate for the facilities.
Health officials have said that imposing the highest level of social distancing restrictions in the country would only be a final resort.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
