South Korea on Tuesday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll since authorities first began documenting coronavirus deaths within the country early this year.
“Forty people died from COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 859 and marking the largest-ever daily total since the country reported its first confirmed virus case in late January,” South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on December 29, citing official government health data.
The East Asian country’s previous daily high for coronavirus deaths was 24, reported on both December 21 and December 22. South Korea has recorded 859 deaths from the Chinese coronavirus so far.
Health officials in the country reported 1,046 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, increasing South Korea’s total caseload to 58,725.
Some observers blame the recent surge in coronavirus fatalities on a recent increase in the number of coronavirus cluster infections at nursing homes and long-term care centers in South Korea. The facilities house elderly people, many with underlying health problems, meaning they are especially vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks.
Health officials in the country reported 1,046 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, increasing South Korea’s total caseload to 58,725.
Roughly 80 percent of Tuesday’s new coronavirus infections were recorded in the greater Seoul area, South Korea’s capital and population center.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on December 27 “extended the current Level 2.5 [social] distancing measures in the capital area and the Level 2 restrictions in the rest of the country until Jan. 3 on concerns over the impact on the economy,” Yonhap reported on Tuesday.
The KDCA will decide whether to increase Seoul’s coronavirus restrictions to a Level 3, the highest in its five-tier scheme, by January 3. Seoul is home to nearly ten million people.
Government authorities have banned gatherings of five or more people in the greater Seoul area since December 23. This ban applies to private or public gatherings and was extended beyond the capital to apply nationwide through January 3.
Restaurants in Seoul currently risk a fine if they allow gatherings of more than four people within their establishments.
South Korea’s government has shut down tourist attractions, including 180 winter sporting resorts, nationwide during the holiday season to prevent transmission of the Chinese coronavirus.
South Korea announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase 20 million doses of a new coronavirus vaccine produced by the U.S. biotech company Moderna. The volume of doses is twice the amount that South Korea’s government originally sought from Moderna. The provision time frame for the jab has also been accelerated from the third quarter of 2021 to the second quarter.
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