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Seoul: South Korea recorded 168 new coronavirus cases as of midnight on Friday (September 4), posting the lowest daily count in three weeks after imposing stricter social distancing rules to mitigate a second wave of infections.
Total infections rose to 21,010, with 333 deaths, according to data released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday.
Friday’s new cases were the lowest since a major outbreak emerged at a Christian church whose members attended a large political rally on Aug. 15.
Daily counts have been hovering below 200 for the past three days after peaking at 441 late last week, a sign that tighter social distancing restrictions implemented last Sunday have started to take effect.
The measures included an unprecedented step to curb the operation of restaurants in the Seoul metropolitan area, where the current spread is concentrated, banning on-site dining after 9 p.m., and limiting coffee and bakery franchises to food for the carry and delivery all day.
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But on Friday the government extended the rules until Sept. 13, saying it takes more time to induce steeper drops in new infections.
“The figures are indeed on a downward trend, but it is too early to be reassured,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo told a meeting on Saturday.
Efforts to curb the ongoing outbreak have been complicated by a strike by some 16,000 inmates and resident doctors who oppose the government’s plans to reform the medical sector to better handle future epidemics.
The country’s top medical body agreed on Friday with the government to end the strike, only to face an immediate backlash from doctors-in-training who rejected the deal and vowed to continue the strike.
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