SoKor Suffers From Covid Resurgence As Daily Cases Exceed 500
The virus is spreading at a faster pace than ever.
South Korea is experiencing a full-blown third wave of coronavirus infections as daily case toll exceeds 500 for three straight days.
The country has recorded 504 new cases this Saturday, from 569 on Friday and 583 cases on Thursday when the daily tally spiked to an eight-month high.
Today's caseload includes 486 local infections, raising the total confirmed cases tally to 33,375, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The agency also reported six additional coronavirus fatalities, bringing the total casualties to 522.
Furthermore, the KDCA reported that 176 new virus cases came from Seoul, while the daily tallies for Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, Busan and Incheon stood at 122, 33, 27 and 25, respectively.
Meanwhile, during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters in Seoul on Friday, Prime Minister Chun Sye-kyun warned that the virus resurgence "is getting into full swing" in the country.
The Prime Minister also stressed the urgency of controlling the rapid spread of the coronavirus. He also asked the public to remain home and refrain from holding social gatherings.
In addition, Prime Minister Chun instructed health authorities and local governments to secure a sufficient amount of hospital beds to prepare against potential growth of critical patients.
On the other hand, fears of virus transmission have further escalated as over 493,400 students across the country are scheduled to take the nationwide college entrance exam next Thursday, December 3.
Because of the recent spike of cases, medical experts have warned the government that if it does not employ more stringent measures to contain the pandemic, the daily virus count could soar to 1,000
With the rising pressure from health experts and the public, government authorities have raised the social distancing level by one notch to Level 2 in the Seoul metropolitan area, where the majority of virus cases have been identified. While other municipalities have also been enforcing tougher distancing rules depending on their virus situation.