New virus cases tumble on fall in imported cases in S.Korea
SEOUL. KAZINFORM - South Korea's new coronavirus cases dropped to under 60 on Sunday, a day after the country recorded its highest figure in nearly four months due to a surge in infections among people arriving from abroad, Yonhap reports.
The country added 58 new cases, including 46 cases from abroad, bringing the total to 14,150, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The number of new infections was down 55 from Saturday, when the country's new cases surged to 113, including 86 cases from South Korean workers' returning home from Iraq and Russian sailors. It marked the first time since April 1 for the country to report more than 100 cases.
The sharp fall compared with the previous day was attributed to a sharp drop in the number of imported cases, the KCDC said.
Local infections also decreased to 12 from 27 the previous day. Of the latest cases, 10 were from the capital city of Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
On Friday, some 300 South Korean workers returned home from the Middle Eastern country, with around 90 of them showing virus symptoms. Some 30 sailors on a Russia-flagged fishing vessel docked in the southeastern city of Busan were also confirmed to have been infected with the new coronavirus.
After falling below 30 for the first time in more than three weeks on Monday, the country's new virus cases gradually increased throughout the week on locally transmitted cases from a nursing home, churches and a front-line military base.
Imported cases, however, also have increased by double-digit daily figures for 30 consecutive days.
South Korea reported its first case on Jan. 20.
There were no additional deaths, keeping the total death toll at 298.
The total number of people released from quarantine after full recoveries came to 12,890, up 24 from the previous day.