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| Visitors undergo a temperature check as they arrive at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on July 23, 2020. AFP |
South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to above 30 Friday as infections coming in from overseas have showed no signs of letting up amid resurgences in global virus cases.
The country added 36 cases, including 22 imported cases, raising the total caseload to 14,305, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The number of locally transmitted cases reached 14.
The tally doubled from 18 new virus cases reported Thursday but was smaller than 48 cases Wednesday.
The country's imported cases have recently surged as infections spiked among South Korean workers returning home from Iraq and Russian sailors. Daily imported cases, which hit a record high of 86 on Saturday, have risen by double-digit numbers for more than a month.
Of the newly identified imported cases, 10 cases were from Uzbekistan, followed by the United States with four cases and the Philippines with two. The total caseload of cases coming in from overseas reached 2,396.
Infections traced to Russian ships docked in South Korean ports have become a source of cluster infections here since last month, with the number of related cases hitting 91 so far.
Starting Monday, sailors aboard ships departing from Russia will be required to submit a certificate showing they have tested negative for COVID-19 as cluster infections tied to Russian ships have continued to grow.
South Korea also began on-board quarantine inspections on not only ships coming from Russia but also vessels departing from six high-risk countries ― Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines and Uzbekistan.
At least 121 South Korean workers returning from Iraq have been confirmed to have been infected with the virus. Of some 290 people who returned home last Friday, 77 workers have tested positive for the virus.
South Korea brought home hundreds of nationals from virus-hit Iraq three times in July, including 72 workers who arrived here earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, of the newly reported local infections, Seoul reported eight cases, followed by four cases from Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital and two from the eastern Gangwon Province.
The number of daily new locally transmitted cases bounced back to a double-digit figure, after it fell to seven Thursday.
Of six families involving 18 people who went camping together in the eastern city of Hongcheon, six people tested positive for the virus.
The KCDC called on people not to lower their guard against COVID-19 even at outdoor places, including beaches, mountains and camping sites during summer vacations.
The government also warned a professional baseball club in the southeastern port city of Busan for not adhering to social distancing guidelines at its home stadium earlier in the week.
Spectators started being allowed to attend sports events last weekend on a limited basis under conditions that professional baseball and football teams will implement strict sanitary measures.
Health authorities are staying vigilant over another wave of virus outbreaks in the summer amid sustained rises in local infections and cases coming in from overseas.
The country reported one additional death, raising the death toll to 301, according to the KCDC. The fatality rate reached 2.1 percent.
The number of patients fully cured of the virus reached 13,183, up 51 from the previous day.
South Korea has carried out 1,563,796 tests since Jan. 3. (Yonhap)
