(Yonhap)
The total number of coronavirus cases in South Korea has climbed to 5,328, with the southeastern city of Daegu continuing to account for the majority.
The country had reported 516 more cases and four more deaths as of Wednesday at 12:01 a.m., according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the new cases, 405 were confirmed in Daegu; 89 in North Gyeongsang Province; seven in Gyeonggi Province; three each in Busan and Ulsan; two each in Incheon and Gwangju; and one each in Seoul, Daejeon, Gangwon Province, South Gyeongsang Province and South Chungcheong Province.
The death toll to date stood at 32. Seven people had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 41.
Community spread in Daegu continued to run rampant. The country’s fourth-largest city had 4,006 citizens with confirmed infections so far.
Once the government began taking an aggressive approach to the testing of more than 210,000 members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus -- the country’s biggest cluster of infections -- the city reported over 500 cases a day for three consecutive days until Monday.
Health authorities have started running makeshift treatment centers, set up at nonmedical facilities, for patients with mild symptoms while seeking to reserve hospital beds for elderly patients and those with underlying diseases.
On Wednesday, some 210 patients will be admitted to the Samsung Electronics Leadership Center in Youngdeok, North Gyeongsang Province. Including the center, the authorities have secured six facilities with the capacity to accommodate 1,189 people in total.
By Park Han-na (
hnpark@heraldcorp.com)