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BFF-13
HEALTH-VIRUS-S.KOREA
S.Korea reports 84 more COVID-19 cases, 8,320 in total
SEOUL, March 17, 2020 (BSS/Xinhua) – South Korea reported 84 more cases of
the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Tuesday local time,
raising the total number of infections to 8,320.
The newly confirmed cases stayed below 100 for the third consecutive day,
after recording the first double-digit growth in 23 days on Sunday.
Six more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 82. The total
fatality rate came in at 0.99 percent.
A total of 264 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making
full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 1,401. The number of
recoveries kept surpassing new infections.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) decided to
update the data once a day at 10:00 a.m. local time from March 10, after
having announced it twice a day.
The virus infection soared for the past weeks, with 8,289 new cases
reported from Feb. 19 to March 16. The country has raised its four-tier virus
alert to the highest “red” level.
The total number of infections in Daegu, about 300 km southeast of Seoul,
and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province increased to 6,098 and 1,169
respectively. It accounted for almost 90 percent of the total.
The numbers in Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi province came to 265 and 262
each.
Daegu became the epicenter of the viral spread here as the biggest cluster
of infections was found in the metropolis with a 2.5 million population.
Daegu has been designated by the government as a “special disaster zone.”
The Daegu cluster was closely linked to the church services of a homegrown
minor religious sect, called Sincheonji, in Daegu. Members of the sect are
known to sit on the floor closely side by side during church services.
The cluster infections accounted for about 80 percent of the total, and
some 60 percent was traced to the Sincheonji sect.
Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 286,000 people, among whom
261,105 tested negative for the virus and 17,291 were being checked.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 1010 hrs