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Asia Today: South Korea mulls steps as new virus cases rise


AP
the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases
doctors’
The Health Ministry
The National Health Commission


Gwangju
Yoshihide Suga
Steven Marshall


GoTo


the Asia-Pacific region

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SEOUL
South Korea
Seoul
Busan
Daejeon
Asan
Japan
India
New Delhi
China
Tianjin
Shanghai
Victoria
Australia
South Australia
Adelaide

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The New York Times
SOURCE: https://apnews.com/22d040969ba498b35b2d6b68ff236852
Write a review: Associated Press
Summary

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 386 new cases of the coronavirus in a resurgence that could force authorities to reimpose stronger social distancing restrictions after easing them in October to spur a faltering economy.The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Saturday raised the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 30,403, including 503 deaths.More than 270 of the new cases have come from the Seoul metropolitan area, where health workers have struggled to track transmissions in schools, private tutoring academies and religious facilities.Infections were also reported in other major cities, including Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju and Asan.South Korea has so far managed to weather the pandemic without major lockdowns, relying instead on an aggressive test-and-quarantine campaign and mask-wearing. But the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases said Friday that the country could be reporting more than 1,000 new infections a day in a week or two if social distancing measures aren’t effectively strengthened.“COVID-19 transmissions are occurring in large numbers simultaneously across the country, and in some regions, the pace of infections has already overwhelmed local capacities for contact tracing,” the doctors’ group said.In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region: — Japan is scaling back on the government-backed “GoTo” campaign to encourage travel and dining out, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached a record for the third day straight on Saturday, at 2,418.

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