S. Korea sees highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since early March
- 3 years ago
국내 코로나, 9개월여만에 첫 600명대... 정총리 "주말까지 상황 보며 추가 방역조치 결정"
Our starting point tonight: the daily virus tally at a nine-month high.
South Koreans were urged to cancel holiday gatherings for Christmas and New Year's today as the nation reported 629 new infections - of them 600 were domestically transmitted cases.
Health authorities are mulling raising the social distancing level currently at the third highest on the five tier scheme.
Choi Won-jong leads our coverage tonight.
South Korea reported 629 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday the highest figure in nearly nine months.
This comes despite the tougher social distancing measures in place across the nation.
"There is still a surge in the capital area even though the level 2 social distancing measures have been in place for more than 10 days. We will monitor the situation until Sunday and impose additional preventive measures then."
However, to curb a surge in infections, health authorities are also imposing a special virus prevention period to prevent further spread during the year-end period,... starting next Monday and lasting until January 3rd.
The health authorities are urging people to cancel parties or gatherings at the end of the year as well as to hold holiday events at religious facilities virtually.
There will also be stricter guidelines on transportation and travel,... particularly for ski and ice-skating facilities.
Health experts said these tougher social distancing measures are necessary.
"We are going into winter month. It's colder and dryer. People are going to spend more time indoors. Our critical hospital beds are running short and we continued to see large numbers of positive cases... so we are in very precarious situation right now."
She added that more people need to realize how serious the COVID-19 situation is and how one person's decision go to an innocent and friendly gathering can have huge repercussions.
Choi Won-jong, Arirang News.
Our starting point tonight: the daily virus tally at a nine-month high.
South Koreans were urged to cancel holiday gatherings for Christmas and New Year's today as the nation reported 629 new infections - of them 600 were domestically transmitted cases.
Health authorities are mulling raising the social distancing level currently at the third highest on the five tier scheme.
Choi Won-jong leads our coverage tonight.
South Korea reported 629 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday the highest figure in nearly nine months.
This comes despite the tougher social distancing measures in place across the nation.
"There is still a surge in the capital area even though the level 2 social distancing measures have been in place for more than 10 days. We will monitor the situation until Sunday and impose additional preventive measures then."
However, to curb a surge in infections, health authorities are also imposing a special virus prevention period to prevent further spread during the year-end period,... starting next Monday and lasting until January 3rd.
The health authorities are urging people to cancel parties or gatherings at the end of the year as well as to hold holiday events at religious facilities virtually.
There will also be stricter guidelines on transportation and travel,... particularly for ski and ice-skating facilities.
Health experts said these tougher social distancing measures are necessary.
"We are going into winter month. It's colder and dryer. People are going to spend more time indoors. Our critical hospital beds are running short and we continued to see large numbers of positive cases... so we are in very precarious situation right now."
She added that more people need to realize how serious the COVID-19 situation is and how one person's decision go to an innocent and friendly gathering can have huge repercussions.
Choi Won-jong, Arirang News.