Korea’s daily tally of coronavirus cases stayed above 600 for two consecutive days on Thursday, and health officials appeared unsure whether it resulted from increased tests after holidays or heralded the fourth viral wave.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 621 new patients, including 590 local infections. The cumulative caseload rose to 85,567 as of midnight Wednesday. Imported cases stayed at 31.
The nation added six more deaths, pushing the accumulated toll to 1,544 with a fatality rate of 1.8 percent. The number of seriously or critically ill Covid-19 patients decreased from 169 to 161, the KDCA said.
An additional 536 patients fully recovered and returned to their everyday lives, increasing the total to 75,896. The country has tested 6,303,214 people since Jan. 3 last year.
The number of new confirmed cases, which fell below 300 over the weekend, began to climb again this week. Sporadic cluster infections at some factories and hospitals have put a strain on the government’s quarantining efforts.
A plastic manufacturing plant in Gyeonggi Province confirmed 115 cases as of noon on Wednesday, while a boiler plant in South Chungcheong Province confirmed 129 cases.
The cluster infection at the boiler plant has become problematic for quarantine officials as the infection might have spread to the plant workers’ families and acquaintances during the Lunar New Year holidays last week.
Two large university hospitals in Seoul have also confirmed more than 100 cases each. They are Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital in Yongsan-gu with 140 cases and Hanyang University Hospital Seoul with 109 cases.
“The number of confirmed cases keep rising due to private meetings during holidays last week, and group infections continue to occur at workplaces, churches and hospitals,” Health and Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said.
Kwon called for related agencies to closely monitor large-scale workplaces where workers stay in a closed and crowded environment and factories hiring many foreign workers.
“If a group infection occurs because a workplace does not properly comply with the quarantine regulations, the relevant administrative organs should take all possible punitive measures, such as imposing a fine,” Kwon said.
He stressed that the authorities are closely watching the situation before concluding if the latest increase in Covid-19 cases is an early sign of resurgence or the result of the increased testing after the holidays.
The government will upgrade quarantine measures again if the number of confirmed cases continues to increase.
Korea has downgraded the social distancing regime to Level 2 — the third highest in a five-tier system — for the Seoul metro region and Level 1.5 for other areas responding to mounting outcries from small business owners.
The new rules extended the operating hours of restaurants, cafes, bars, and fitness clubs in the Seoul metropolitan region by one hour to 10 p.m. for two weeks. The ban on the gatherings of five or more people remains in place.
“If the epidemic continues to spread, the government may have to revert to the reinforced social distancing measure,” Ministry of Health and Welfare Spokesperson Son Young-rae said during a daily news briefing.
He noted that the government might also delay revising the social distancing system, initially scheduled for March. “The government will have to review the timing of the implementation if the current pace of new cases goes on.”
Meanwhile, Celltrion started the supply of CT-P59, the first homegrown Covid-19 antibody treatment that won conditional approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, to medical institutions, on Wednesday.
