| People wearing face masks pass by banners hoping to overcome the COVID-19 crisis on a street in Seoul, July 13. AP-Yonhap |
South Korea's daily virus cases hit yet another fresh high Wednesday as the country battles the fourth wave of the pandemic amid woes over rising delta variant cases and a slow vaccination process.
The country added 1,615 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,568 local infections, raising the total caseload to 171,911, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily figures have stayed above 1,000 for eight consecutive days.
Concerns have grown here over a further uptick in new infections amid the fast spread of the more contagious delta variant and the summer season despite toughened virus curbs.
The greater Seoul area, home to half of the country's 51.3 million population, has been under the toughest level of distancing since Monday.
The country added two more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 2,048.
Health authorities earlier warned that the daily virus cases may rise to the mid-2,000s in mid-August, before falling to as low as the 600s by the end of next month, should the fourth wave of the pandemic be brought under control.
As new cases in the greater Seoul area account for 80 percent of the daily caseload, the country implemented a semi-lockdown in the region that centers on banning gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m.
Under the highest social distancing measures of Level 4, entertainment establishments, including nightclubs and bars, are ordered to shut down in the capital area, while restaurants are allowed to have dine-in customers only until 10 p.m.
Starting Thursday, most areas outside the greater Seoul area will be placed under the second-highest restrictions, in which gatherings of more than eight people are banned around the clock, according to health authorities. The ceilings, however, vary depending on provincial governments' policies.
Non-capital regions have been under the lowest social distancing scheme with no ceiling on gatherings.
Restaurants are allowed to operate until midnight at Level 2.
Some regions, including the central administration city of Sejong, along with North and South Jeolla provinces, will be under Level 1 distancing.
But the country's virus battle has been put on edge due to rising variant cases and soaring untraceable infections.
The more contagious delta strain of COVID-19 took up nearly 70 percent of newly identified variant cases last week.
Over the past two weeks, around 30.5 percent of the newly added patients had unknown transmission routes.
The spike in virus cases came as the country's vaccination program has been slow since June due to a tight supply of jabs.
A total of 15.6 million people, or 30.6 percent of the country's population, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, remaining almost unchanged from 29.8 percent tallied at end-June.
The KDCA said 6 million people have been fully vaccinated, accounting for 11.8 percent of the population.
Of the newly confirmed domestic cases, 633 were from Seoul, 453 from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and 93 from the western port city of Incheon.
There were 47 additional imported cases.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 155,491, up 739 from a day earlier.
The number of patients in critical condition came to 163, up 17 from the previous day. (Yonhap)