Until then, South Korea seemed to be in control of the pandemic, but for several days, new cases have started to rise again.
This December 20th is the fifth day in a row that South Korea has recorded more than 1,000 new positive cases. While not so long ago the country had less than 30 daily cases, leaders are taking this new increase very seriously.
Whereas previously the health authorities announced that the new cases were mainly due to foreigners arriving on Korean soil, for the last 24 hours of the 1,098 new cases, 1,072 are Korean.
The country which has already raised its alert level to 2.5 (in the metropolis of Seoul and 2 in the rest of the territory) on a scale of 3 (comprising 5 levels), doesn’t wish to increase to the maximum level because that would oblige the closure of 2 million stores, and the authorities believe they can contain the virus.
The country which has announced 15 new deaths from the Covid19 infection, has raised the figure to 674 since the start of the infection. Even if this figure is still too high, it is very low compared to other countries like the USA.
South Korea continues its massive screening and, like many countries, asks people to respect the rules of hygiene. The country plans to start the vaccination wave in the first half of 2021, with the vaccine from AstraZeneca. It will not be a mass vaccination but it will be staggered according to the arrival of the number of vaccines.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Yonhap news
