The domestic terminal at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul is crowded with passengers last Sunday. (Yonhap)
South Korea has confirmed 86 more cases of contagious variants of the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 535, amid concerns that the country's virus battle may be exacerbated by the more transmissible viruses.
Of them, 52 people were local infections and 34 imported cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Tuesday.
By nationality, 58 of them are South Koreans and 28 are foreigners, the authorities said.
According to the KDCA, 86 cases are the Britain-originated variant, followed by 10 from South Africa.
The authorities have said they remain vigilant against the possibility that highly transmissible new variants from Britain, South Africa and Brazil could lead to another uptick in virus cases here.
The recent emergence of several COVID-19 mutations has complicated the global fight against the pandemic because they are more transmissible than the original one.
South Korea has banned passenger flights arriving from Britain since Dec. 23 to block the new virus variant that was first identified in Britain. The country, however, will lift a ban on direct flights from Britain on a limited basis next month for the convenience of Korean residents living in the European nation
The country reported 512 more COVID-19 cases, staying in the 500s for the second straight day, with the total caseload at 119,898, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)