South Korea has announced 516 new coronavirus cases, most of them in and around the city of Daegu where a secretive religious sect has been at the center of the outbreak in the country.
The new cases reported by the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday bring the national tally to 5,328, with at least 32 deaths.
The flu-like virus has spread rapidly among the members of the Shincheonji religious group in South Korea, particularly in Daegu, the country’s fourth-biggest city, with a population of more than 2.5 million.
Health officials expect the number of cases to increase for the next days as they complete the testing of more than 200,000 members of the religious sect, as well as thousands of other suspected cases from smaller clusters.
Hospitals in South Korea’s hardest hit areas are scrambling to accommodate the surge in new patients. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said 2,300 people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals and temporary medical facilities in Daegu.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a special cabinet meeting that “special measures” to cope with the emergency. South Korea has announced 516 new coronavirus cases, most of them in and around the city of Daegu, where a secretive religious sect has been at the center of the outbreak in the country.
The new cases reported by the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday bring the national tally to 5,328, with at least 32 deaths.
The flu-like virus has spread rapidly among the members of the Shincheonji religious group in South Korea, particularly in Daegu, the country’s fourth-biggest city, with a population of more than 2.5 million.
Health officials expect the number of cases to increase for the next days as they complete the testing of more than 200,000 members of the religious sect, as well as thousands of other suspected cases from smaller clusters.
Hospitals in South Korea’s hardest hit areas are scrambling to accommodate the surge in new patients. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said 2,300 people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals and temporary medical facilities in Daegu.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a special cabinet meeting that “special measures” to cope with the emergency.
The new coronavirus, recently named COVID-19, can cause various symptoms ranging from those of the common cold to more severe diseases such as pneumonia. Common signs include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and other respiratory complications.
The virus, which emerged in central China in late December last year, has so far claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide.
Over 89,000 people have been infected across 68 countries and territories. While the majority of the deaths have occurred in mainland China, tallies there are slowing down, and other countries are registering cases at a higher pace.
Source: AFP
