REUTERS
December 21, 2020 at 16:00 JST
A medical worker wearing protective gears prepares to take sample in the sub-zero temperatures at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul on Dec. 21. (AP Photo)
SEOUL--South Korea’s capital Seoul and surrounding areas banned gatherings of more than four people over the Christmas and New Year holidays as the country recorded its highest daily death toll from the coronavirus on Monday.
The national government has resisted calls to impose a strict national lockdown but the governments of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon city ordered unprecedented restrictions on gatherings from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3.
“We cannot overcome the current crisis without reducing cluster infections that are spreading through private gatherings with families, friends and colleagues,” Seoul acting mayor Seo Jung-hyup said at a briefing.
“This is the last chance to break the spread.”
The ban on gatherings applies to all indoor and outdoor functions except funerals and weddings. Currently they ban gatherings of more than nine people.
Combined the two cities and the province account for about half of South Korea’s 51 million residents.
Within Seoul, restaurants and similar venues accounted for 41.4 percent of cluster infections over the past four weeks, followed by 16.9 percent from offices, 15.5 percent from places of worship and 12.3 percent from medical facilities and nursing homes, according to local government data.
Police raided venues suspected of violating social distancing rules on Friday, charging 35 people, the city said in a statement.
As of midnight on Sunday there were 24 additional deaths, bringing the country’s total to 698, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
There were just four intensive care unit beds remaining in the greater Seoul area as of Sunday, according to city data.
The government has ordered private hospitals to free up more than 300 beds for coronavirus patients and has allocated $4.5 million to compensate the facilities.
There were a further 926 coronavirus cases as of midnight on Sunday, down from a record high 1,097 the day before. Overall South Korea has reported 50,591 cases since the pandemic began.
S. Korea raises disease alert to top level as virus cases soar
February 23, 2020
S. Korea reports 123 new coronavirus cases, fourth death
February 23, 2020
S. Korea’s Moon warns of toughest COVID-19 curbs after 2 days of record cases
December 13, 2020S. Korea closes churches as coronavirus tally passes 3,500
March 1, 2020S. Korea expands social distancing rules as coronavirus outbreak grows
August 22, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
