S. Korea adds 34 more cases, mostly in Greater Seoul area

Health workers wearing protective gear take samples from a visitor for the COVID-19 coronavirus test at a temporary virus testing centre in Seoul on May 29, 2020. AFP

SEOUL — South Korea reported 34 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday as the country continues to see small-scale, sporadic outbreaks in the densely populated Greater Seoul area.

Of the new cases, 31 were domestic cases, 29 of which were registered in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province — home to nearly half of the country’s population. The other three cases were imported from overseas — one was detected at the airport and two while the patients were under self-quarantine, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of new infections has stayed between 30 and 50 for the past two weeks, and remains concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Most cases have been linked with small group gatherings of church pastors, a networking marketing firm and table tennis clubs.

As of Saturday at noon, the respective number of infections traced to two major clusters — a warehouse run by e-commerce leader Coupang in Bucheon, just west of Seoul, and Seoul-based health product retailer Richway — reached 147 and 153. The number of cases linked to table tennis clubs rose to 62.

Korea began to see an increase in new infections in mid-May as clusters linked to nightclubs and bars in the Seoul nightlife district of Itaewon led to the emergence of new clusters in Greater Seoul.

The Korean government, which loosened its social distancing rules May 6 on the back of a slowing infection rate, is now enforcing “routine distancing” measures for the country as a whole, allowing people to engage in daily activities. But the Seoul metropolitan area is under toughened quarantine measures, which were to last until June 14.

Alarmed by the continued rise in the number of new infections in the Greater Seoul area, the government said Friday that the toughened quarantine measures would remain in place “indefinitely.”

With 57 new cases, the country’s total caseload rose to 12,085. The death toll remained unchanged at 277. Some 10,718 patients have so far been released from quarantine upon making full recoveries, putting the number of recovered patients at 88.6 percent of all confirmed cases, according to the KCDC.

The country’s overall mortality rate for COVID-19 patients is 2.29 percent, but much higher among older people. For those aged 80 or older the mortality rate is 25.61 percent, and for those in their 70s it is 10.16 percent.