With lax social distancing in store, virus curve flattens for days
The country reported 14 new virus cases, bringing the nation's total infections to 10,752 in 100 days, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The country reported its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20, Yonhap reports.
Health authorities, however, warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is still «persisting» in the country amid the rising number of imported cases and concerns over cluster infections.
Of the newly added cases announced Tuesday, 12 were imported, raising the country's total number of such cases to 1,056. Half of the new imported cases were from Europe.
The nation's death toll from COVID-19 rose by one to 244.
The staff of the Korean Red Cross prepare to distribute meal boxes to vulnerable households amid the coronavirus pandemic in Seoul on April 28, 2020. (Yonhap)
The fatality rate came to 2.27 percent, with victims aged 80 and above accounting for more than half of the reported deaths.
No deaths were reported among those aged 29 and below, though the age group accounted for a third of confirmed patients.
In total, 8,854 people in South Korea have recovered from the virus, up 90 from a day earlier. More than 80 percent of the COVID-19 patients have been cured.
In one hundred days since the first COVID-19 case here, the country has managed to control the spread of the virus, according to health authorities.
«We have been able to stem the further spread of the virus on the back of quick and massive testing,» Yoon Tae-ho, a health ministry official, said at a daily press briefing. «But we need to stay alert over another potential wave of infections at any time,» he said.
South Korea has received requests from other countries for exports of test kits or humanitarian aid. «South Korea is willing to help other countries by taking various circumstances into account,» Yoon added.
The country is currently capable of carrying out up to 23,000 tests on a daily basis.
Daegu, the nation's worst virus-hit region located 300 kilometers south of Seoul, added just two cases. The city accounts for 64 percent of the nation's total COVID-19 cases.
