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| ▲ A pharmacist displays COVID-19 home test kits that went on sale in South Korea on April 29, 2021, at a pharmacy in Seoul the same day. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean volleyball player Kim Yeon-koung, who will compete in the Tokyo Olympics, receives a Pfizer vaccine at the National Medical Center in central Seoul on April 29, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
coronavirus-additional cases
New cases in 600s for 2nd day, virus curbs extended for 3 weeks
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily new virus cases remained in the 600s for the second day Friday as the country extended its social distancing measures against the coronavirus amid concerns of another wave of the pandemic.
The country reported 661 more COVID-19 cases, including 642 local infections, raising the total caseload to 122,007, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The latest tally was slightly down from 679 new cases the previous day, after reaching 769 cases on Wednesday on a growing number of untraceable cases.
The country added three more deaths, raising the total to 1,828.
Amid fears over another wave of the pandemic, health authorities decided to maintain the country's social distancing measures and ban on large private gatherings, originally set to expire Sunday, for three more weeks.
Currently, the greater Seoul area, where more than half of the country's 52 million people reside, is under Level 2 social distancing, the third highest in the five-tier scheme, with the rest of the country under Level 1.5.
Gatherings of five or more people are banned nationwide, with exceptions for family members.
Acting Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said the extensions were necessary, considering the upcoming two holidays next month, Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday, which could potentially heighten infection risks.
South Korea has been grappling with sporadic cluster infections, coupled with the rising number of cases with unknown transmission routes.
The proportion of virus cases with unknown transmission routes stood at 29.9 percent over the past two weeks as of Wednesday, the highest since the country began compiling related data in April last year.
Amid fears of another wave of the pandemic, the country is accelerating its vaccination drive. As of Thursday, more than 3 million people had been administered with COVID-19 vaccines since the vaccine rollout in late February.
Authorities have said they aim to vaccinate 3 million people by the end of this month and 12 million by the end of June. The country targets inoculating around 70 percent of the country's population with the first dose of the vaccine by September and achieving herd immunity by November.
Of the newly confirmed locally transmitted cases, 224 came from Seoul, 144 from Gyeonggi Province and 13 from Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital.
There were 19 additional imported cases, raising the total to 8,322.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 111,422, up 635 from a day earlier.
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