By Park Si-soo
South Korea has confirmed 116 cases of coronavirus reinfection (as of Monday noon) with most cases reported in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, two epicenters of the domestic outbreak.
The tally added five more cases from Sunday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
With 10,564 cumulative cases and 7,534 patients recovered (as of Tuesday noon), reinfection data showed nearly 1.5 percent of the recovered people had been infected again for unverified reasons.
The first domestic case of reinfection was reported on Feb. 28 ― a woman in her 70s was confirmed to be reinfected six days after she had been declared as recovered.
Health authorities are exploring possible causes of reinfection, but have yet to find a clear answer.
"With limited information and data, we find it difficult to determine why and how they got infected again," KCDC director Jung Eun-kyeong said in a Tuesday briefing.
Of the 116 cases, 48 were reported in Daegu, 35 in North Gyeongsang Province and 10 in Gyeonggi Province.
"Those in their 20s and 50s have the biggest portion, but there are cases across all age groups," the director said, noting that age did not factor into reinfection.
Earlier, health authorities said the virus was highly likely to have been reactivated, instead of the people being reinfected, because they tested positive again in a relatively short time after being released from quarantine.
They said the COVID-19 virus may remain latent in certain cells and attack the respiratory organs again once reactivated.