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South Korea reported another record daily spike in the number of new coronavirus cases on Monday, with most new cases centered in the southeastern city of Daegu, where health authorities are shifting the focus of the anti-virus fight to containing its further spread.
The 231 additional cases of the new coronavirus brought the total number of infections in South Korea to 833. Also, a 62-year-old man, who is tied to a hospital in Cheongdo, near Daegu, died of the virus on Sunday, bringing the nation's death toll to 7.
Daegu, where 2.5 million people have been asked to stay indoors, saw its confirmed cases jump by 196 to 483 on Monday, despite efforts to stem the spread of the virus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Two clusters of infections -- at a branch of a religious sect in Daegu and a hospital in the neighboring county of Cheongdo -- have continued to expand sharply, taking up about three-quarters of the total cases in the country. About 60 percent of the total cases are linked to church services at the Daegu-based Shincheonji church and 15 percent to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo.
Although health authorities voiced hope that the virus can be contained, experts said the virus may have spread more widely nationwide as cases with no clear links to China or confirmed cases continued to be discovered in Seoul and other regions. (Yonhap)
