Thirty people were newly confirmed with novel coronavirus infections in South Korea on Saturday, recording a nine-day streak of double-digit daily tally, officials said. Korea’s cumulate cases totaled 10,480 according to the Health Ministry, 7,243 of whom have recovered. The remaining 3,026 patients are still undergoing treatment.
Out of the 30 new patients, 12 were recent arrivals from overseas. Half of them were detected at the border and the other half after they entered the country. Two of them were noncitizens. On average, about 20 percent of foreign arrivals are nonessential travelers, health officials said. All arriving passengers are required to be isolated for 14 days from April 1. Noncitizens can stay at state-arranged accommodations for 100,000 won a day.
Three more people died, bringing the death toll to 211. The fatality rate now stands at over 2 percent, a steep rise from March 1’s 0.4 percent. To enforce compliance with the two-week quarantine, The government has decided to put electronic wristbands on people who violate the orders. The surveillance measures were announced at a Saturday meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun, to be instituted in about two weeks’ time.
But the use of wristbands will necessitate agreement from the violator, officials added. According to the Health Ministry’s latest data, a total of 54,583 people were placed under self-quarantine as of Thursday. The number is expected to cross 90,000 at most, as about 2,000 to 3,000 are quarantined each day. Mobile applications and phone calls are the current methods of checking the mandatory quarantine orders are followed.
Despite the slowdown, officials again urged a strict adherence to social distancing. Korea’s second phase of “intense” physical distancing ends April 19.
Source: Korea Herald