South Korea reports third consecutive record new COVID-19 case-KDCA By Reuters

Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters)-The South Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday that South Korea announced the highest number of new COVID-19 infections in its history in the past 24 hours. This is the third consecutive day of new infections in history. new highs.

South Korea said on Friday that starting from Monday, Seoul and surrounding areas will tighten the coronavirus control measures to the most stringent level for the first time, as the continuous new cases have raised concerns.

As of midnight on Friday, the country has reported 1,378 new COVID-19 cases, which is higher than the record of 1,316 cases per day on Thursday.

So far, South Korea has outperformed many industrialized countries in terms of infections and deaths. As of Friday, its death rate was 1.22%, with 148 severe cases, well below the previous peak at the end of December.

However, the upward trend has prompted warnings that by the end of July, the number of new cases may almost double.

This has led the government to adopt stricter restrictions, including advising people to stay at home as much as possible, and starting at four o’clock early in the day and limiting social gatherings to two people after 6 o’clock in the afternoon.

KDCA said in a statement that about 11% of South Korea’s 52 million people have completed vaccination, including the vaccine that requires two doses, while 30% have received one dose.

The country’s goal is to achieve herd immunity by November and at least one shot for 70% of the public by September.

So far, the total number of COVID-19 infections in South Korea is 166,722, of which 2,038 people have died.