President Moon Says Sorry As New COVID Caseload Jumps To 511

by Victoria Marian Belmis / Dec 02, 2020 09:01 AM EST

On December 2, South Korea added 511 new cases of coronavirus one day prior to the scheduled nationwide college entrance exam.

According to the report of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the new COVID-19 caseload includes 493 local infections without any additional fatalities. Because of the recent trend for new cases, health authorities warn of a possible surge in coronavirus cases that could range between 700 and 1000 during the holidays if people neglect the toughened antivirus protocols that were implemented since December 1st.

Amid the resurgence of COVID cases and the increased fear amidst the pandemic's third wave in the country, almost half a million high school seniors and applicants are set to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on December 3rd.

Because of this, President Moon Jae-took sent a warm message towards the exam takers through his Twitter account.

In his post, he acknowledged the difficult time that the college hopefuls have gone through in preparation for the exams.

"It's hard to prepare for the CSAT itself, and it will be even more difficult and worrisome to take the exam in the coronavirus situation," he wrote in a tweet.

He also added that he "felt sorry" as the president for the current situation that was worsened by the resurgence of new COVID-19 cases."We all are supporting you. Confidently! Calmly!" Moon added.

The CSAT or "Suneung," will be held at a total of 1,383 testing sites across the country. The exams will begin at 8:40 a.m. and will last until 5:40 p.m. Usually, the CSAT is scheduled every November. However, due to the continued spread of the coronavirus, it was postponed to December.

Meanwhile, seven more soldiers have tested positive of the virus. Four of which are army officers while three are enlisted soldiers.

On the other hand, the K-pop industry is also facing a coronavirus scare after Bitto and Kogyeol from UP10TION as well as EVERGLOW's Yiren and Sihyeon tested positive for COVID-19.