South Korea’s new coronavirus infections fell below 30 for the first time since Feb. 20 on Friday, with the southeastern city of Daegu, once the nation’s epicenter, reporting no new cases for the first time.
The 27 new cases, detected Thursday and down from 39 a day ago, brought the nation’s total infections to 10,450, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
South Korea recorded around 50 or fewer daily new cases for the fifth day in a row, a sharp drop from the Feb. 29 peak of 909 new cases. But health authorities remain on high alert over cluster infections at churches and hospitals, as well as new cases coming from overseas.
The nation’s death toll from the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, rose by four to 208, according to the KCDC. In total, 6,973 people in South Korea have recovered from the virus.
The total number of cases reported in Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province reached 6,807 and 1,327, respectively.
Other major provinces and cities also reported infections, with Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province adding five and nine new cases, respectively.
The country also detected four new cases coming from overseas at border checkpoints, raising the country’s total number of imported cases to 869.
Seeking to reduce the daily number of new infections to below 50, South Korea has extended strict guidelines on social distancing by two weeks to April 19. South Korea has tested 503,051 people so far. (Yonhap)