Published : Dec. 24, 2020 - 09:41
A medical worker administers a COVID-19 test at a testing center in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 on Thursday, as the most stringent social distancing rules so far were in place ahead of the Christmas and New Year's holidays to contain the winter wave of the virus.
The country added 985 more COVID-19 cases, including 955 local infections, raising the total caseload to 53,533, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The tally marked a decline from 1,092 cases Wednesday, 869 cases Tuesday, 926 cases Monday, 1,097 cases Sunday, 1,053 Saturday and 1,062 last Friday.
Seventeen people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 756.
Later in the day, health authorities and local governments said 668 new cases were confirmed from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, 27 fewer than at the same time on Wednesday. The greater Seoul area accounted for 67.5 percent with 451 cases.
Health authorities have been considering whether to raise the country's social distancing guidelines to Level 3, the highest in its five-tier scheme.
However, authorities said they are aiming to contain the current wave of the pandemic without raising virus curbs to Level 3 on concerns over the impact on the economy.
Instead of applying measures that would deal a severe blow to millions of small merchants, health authorities have deployed "targeted" virus curbs.
From Wednesday, the greater Seoul area banned gatherings of five or more people. Restaurants in the greater Seoul area will face a fine if they allow gatherings of more than four people. The strongest-ever measures will be applied nationwide starting Thursday as well.
Ski resorts and famous tourism venues were shut down to slow the spread of the virus during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said South Korea has signed deals with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Pfizer to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for a total of 16 million people. Previously, the government said it had signed deals to secure vaccines for 44 million people.
South Korea has been applying Level 2.5 social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, home to half of its 51.6 million population, and Level 2 rules in the rest of the country.
Of the 955 newly identified local infections announced early Thursday, 314 cases were reported in Seoul and 277 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, west of Seoul, reported 53 more cases.
Other municipalities reported new infections, with the country's largest port city of Busan adding 43 cases and the southern island of Jeju reporting 26 new cases.
South Korea had managed to bring two waves of virus infections under control since the pandemic began, but health authorities are struggling to contain the current wave because clusters continue to emerge in the densely populated capital area. At the same time, clusters showed signs of growing across the nation.
A nursing hospital in Seoul's Guro Ward reported 9 additional patients, raising the caseload to 116, while a religious facility in Daegu identified 13 more cases, with the total reaching 50.
Other major cluster infections included a nursing home in Cheongju, which added 11 more patients, raising the total to 90. A religious facility on the southern island of Jeju has reported 138 patients.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 291, compared with 284 from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 37,425, up 699 from the previous day.
The country, meanwhile, added 30 imported cases, increasing the total to 5,223.
Fourteen cases came from the United States, followed by five cases from Indonesia and three from Myanmar.
The country has carried out 3,882,210 coronavirus tests since Jan. 3, including 55,640 tests in the past 24 hours. The country reported its first case on Jan. 20.