New COVID-19 cases have been in triple digits for 5 days straight in S. Korea
코로나19 신규확진 연일 세 자릿수..."수도권 긴급대응반 운영"
Our top story this lunchtime.
South Korea is continuing to see a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Seoul and its surrounding areas.
The authorities are sharply tightening measures in a bid to control the spread.
Officials are blaming much of it on cluster infections that led to secondary infections throughout the country.
Kim Do-yeon reports.
South Korea reported 246 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday with 235 of them being local transmissions.
It marks the fifth straight day for new daily cases to be in the triple digits... totaling nearly a thousand in five days alone.
The majority of them have been popping up in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi-do Province.
As a result, the government has formed an emergency response unit for the capital area.
The unit will work to contain secondary spread throughout the area.
They have divided the region into 13 sectors and 45 teams with 190 members in total have been assigned to various roles.
In addition, health authorities will bring more hospital beds into the area in case beds start running low due to the rising number of cases.
"This week will be a critical period to stop the spread becoming a big wave. From our experience, our response via our quarantine and medical systems has improved, but we can't guarantee a quick end to the rapid growth in cluster infections."
. .
The new cases are mostly linked with clusters from churches.
Infections linked to the Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul are nearly 400 with 15% positive rate from the tested,... and those linked to the Woori Jeil Church in Yongin have surpassed 120.
The authorities say churches that do not abide by quarantine rules and refuse to cooperate with tracing efforts will be dealt with aggressively.
In addition, clusters at a police station and a coffee shop are under close scrutiny as they have experienced cases and have the potential to become cluster zones.
So far, South Korea has reported 15,761 cases with 306 deaths.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News
Our top story this lunchtime.
South Korea is continuing to see a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Seoul and its surrounding areas.
The authorities are sharply tightening measures in a bid to control the spread.
Officials are blaming much of it on cluster infections that led to secondary infections throughout the country.
Kim Do-yeon reports.
South Korea reported 246 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday with 235 of them being local transmissions.
It marks the fifth straight day for new daily cases to be in the triple digits... totaling nearly a thousand in five days alone.
The majority of them have been popping up in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi-do Province.
As a result, the government has formed an emergency response unit for the capital area.
The unit will work to contain secondary spread throughout the area.
They have divided the region into 13 sectors and 45 teams with 190 members in total have been assigned to various roles.
In addition, health authorities will bring more hospital beds into the area in case beds start running low due to the rising number of cases.
"This week will be a critical period to stop the spread becoming a big wave. From our experience, our response via our quarantine and medical systems has improved, but we can't guarantee a quick end to the rapid growth in cluster infections."
. .
The new cases are mostly linked with clusters from churches.
Infections linked to the Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul are nearly 400 with 15% positive rate from the tested,... and those linked to the Woori Jeil Church in Yongin have surpassed 120.
The authorities say churches that do not abide by quarantine rules and refuse to cooperate with tracing efforts will be dealt with aggressively.
In addition, clusters at a police station and a coffee shop are under close scrutiny as they have experienced cases and have the potential to become cluster zones.
So far, South Korea has reported 15,761 cases with 306 deaths.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News