| Health inspectors fumigate surroundings of Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul's Seongbuk-gu District, Friday, which the Seoul city government shut down after cluster infection of COVID-19 took place there. Yonhap |
South Korea saw new daily COVID-19 virus cases reach triple digits for the second day in a row Saturday, as sporadic local infections in the greater Seoul area jumped ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 166 infections as of midnight Friday, raising the total caseload to 15,039. Of these 155 were locally transmitted.
This is the second straight day for new infections to top 100, following 138, reported Friday.
The number of cases was the largest since March 11, when the country reported 242.
There has been a dramatic increase in infections during the week, with new daily confirmed cases nearly doubling from 28, Monday, to 54, Wednesday, with people testing positive for the virus reaching triple digits Friday.
The KCDC has warned that the greater Seoul area is teetering on the brink of another viral spike and that the easing of social distancing guidance could be rolled back if the upward trend continues.
Of the new locally transmitted cases, 72 were reported in the capital and 67 from Gyeonggi Province.
Sporadic infection clusters have shown no signs of a let-up, with most cases traced to churches in Seoul and the surrounding province.
Cases tied to a church in Yongin, south of Seoul, reached 72 as of noon Friday, up 60 from the previous day.
Those linked to a church in northern Seoul rose by 14 to 19. The Seoul Metropolitan Government ordered the temporary shutdown of the church, with the health authorities conducting virus tests on 1,897 people.
It was also reported that 31 residents in a town in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, were also infected with COVID-19.
On Friday, the government said it was considering strengthening infection preventive measures in Seoul and its neighboring areas by one notch to Level 2.
In June, the administration adopted a three-tier social distancing scheme, under which the country is currently at a Level 1 distancing measure. Level 2 could be applied if daily infections exceed 50 for 14 straight days but remain under 100.
The KCDC, meanwhile, reported no additional fatalities, keeping the death toll at 305. The fatality rate was 2.03 percent.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 13,901, up 38 from the previous day. (Yonhap)