Korea warns of more virus cases in Daegu, total almost 3,000
Korean Air flight attendants check the body temperatures of passengers bound for Los Angeles at a boarding gate in Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on Friday. Starting from Friday, any passenger with a high fever will not be allowed to board a flight bound for the United States. [YONHAP]
The country reported a whopping 594 additional cases of the new coronavirus to bring total infections to 2,931. So far, 17 virus patients have died from the virus that emerged in China late last year, including one virus-related death earlier in the day.
The latest victim of COVID-19 was a 77-year-old South Korean man who tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. He suffered from diabetes and other underlying diseases.
Of the 594 new cases, 476 are in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and 60 were reported in neighboring North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The number of patients in Daegu, the epicenter of virus outbreak here, surpassed the 2,000 mark, accounting for more than 70 percent of the total cases in South Korea. The city's neighboring North Gyeongsang Provice has also reported a total of 469 virus cases so far.
The sharp increase in confirmed virus cases in the country's fourth-largest city, which has a population of 2.5 million, came as authorities began intensive tests on followers of the Shincheonji church in Daegu.
Many more confirmed virus cases are expected in the coming days as health authorities have begun testing more than 210,000 Shincheonji followers.
South Korea's health authorities have so far surveyed 88 percent of the followers of the church, with around 2 percent of them showing symptoms of the novel virus.
The KCDC said 171,000 had answered questions about their health so far, and it has collected samples from 3,381 church members who showed symptoms of COVID-19 infection.
The Daegu city government said earlier the number of virus patients there may exceed 3,000, considering that the church accounts for roughly 80 percent of its confirmed cases so far.
"The proportion of confirmed cases among Shincheonji followers is very high, and over the next few days, the number of new cases in Daegu will run high till virus tests on the church followers are completed," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a daily briefing.
Virus tests on a third of the 9,300 Shincheonjin followers in Daegu has been completed, he said.
"This weekend will be crucial juncture in containing further spread of the new coronavirus," Kim said. "Citizens are urged to stay indoors and avoid mass gatherings such as religious services."
To ward off further infections in the city, Daegu's education office ordered its 800 schools to delay the start of the new semester by two additional weeks to March 23. The city had already delayed classes by a week amid growing concerns over the spread of the virus.
There was another confirmed case from U.S. Forces Korea. The spouse of an American soldier who recently tested positive for COVID-19 has been confirmed to have contracted the virus, bringing the total number of USFK-related infection cases to four.
The woman has been in self-quarantine since Wednesday, when her husband, based at Camp Carroll in the county of Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, tested positive.
Other major provinces and cities have also reported new virus infections, the latest sign that the potentially deadly virus is spreading rapidly across the country.
North Gyeongsang Province, which surrounds Daegu, added 60 new cases, bringing its total to 469.
The capital, Seoul, reported an additional 12 cases, and Busan, the second-largest city, also saw 12 new cases. Gyeonggi and South Gyeongsang provinces reported four and 10 more, respectively.
Since raising the virus alert level to "red," the highest level, on Sunday, health authorities have focused on halting the spread of the virus in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
As of Saturday morning, South Korea is carrying out tests on 29,154 people nationwide, while 53,608 people have tested negative in total.
The number of patients cured of the disease remained unchanged at 27.
South Korea confirmed its first new coronavirus case in a Chinese woman from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, on Jan. 20.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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