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South Korea recorded fewer than 100 new daily virus cases again on Friday, but health authorities remained on high alert over new cluster infections and imported coronavirus cases.
The 87 new cases, which were detected Thursday, brought the nation's total number of infections to 8,652, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The daily infection rate has been in double digits this week, except for the 152 new cases reported Wednesday.
So far, 94 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses, have died in South Korea from the respiratory virus.
About 60 percent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji religious sect in Daegu, which has a population of 2.5 million and is the country's fourth-largest city.
The pace of daily new infections has shown marked signs of slowing since the second week of this month as health authorities completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers at the center of the rapid spread.
But the authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, including at a call center in Seoul's Guro district and Protestant churches in Gyeonggi Province.
Of the 87 new cases, 34 are in Daegu and 13 are in North Gyeongsang, the KCDC said. The total number of confirmed cases in Daegu and North Gyeongsang, the two epicenters of the virus outbreak here, stood at 6,275 and 1,203, respectively.
Other major provinces and cities have also reported some infections, with Seoul reporting 17 additional cases. The total number of imported virus cases rose by one to 17.
Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and Incheon, saw their new daily infections rise by 35 to 644 on Thursday.
With unknown virus sufferers who have not developed symptoms apparently causing significant numbers of infections, the government has called for people to avoid nonessential gatherings in crowded places, such as religious facilities, nursing homes, internet cafes and karaoke rooms.
Since raising the virus alert level to "red," the highest level, on Feb. 23, health authorities have focused on halting the spread of the virus in Daegu and North Gyeongsang.
On Sunday, the government designated Daegu and three other hard-hit areas in North Gyeongsang as "special disaster zones," allowing it to subsidize about half of the recovery spending and exempt people there from paying taxes and utility fees.
The World Health Organization declared last week that the global coronavirus crisis is a pandemic, as the virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica.
South Korea had released a total of 2,233 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Thursday, up 286 from a day earlier, the KCDC said.
The number of daily cured people exceeded the number of daily new infections in South Korea last week for the first time since Jan. 20, when the virus was first detected on South Korean soil.
The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine came to 15,525 as of Thursday, down 379 from the day before, the KCDC said. The country has tested a total of 316,664 suspected cases, with 292,487 testing negative. (Yonhap)
