South Korea’s Total Cases at Nearly 3,000 Now; Total Deaths at 16

We all know that the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak was rampant, but I certainly didn’t know it would be this rampant outside of China.

Well, no one does, actually.

Except maybe for Patient 31 lah.

South Korea’s Total Cases Nearly At 3,000; Total Deaths At 16

South Korea has just reported 594 more COVID-19 cases with three more new deaths, bringing the national total number of people infected to 2,931 and the total death toll to 16.

This has been the biggest surge so far for the country.

According to a statement by the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, most of the new cases – more than 90% – are from Daegu, which is the centre of South Korea’s outbreak, as well as its neighbouring North Gyeongsang province.

Lest you didn’t know, Daegu is the hometown of Crash Landing on You star Yoon Se-ri, who has since donated about SGD$114K to the region to fight the virus.

The three deaths are of women in Daegu who succumbed to the disease, and one of them was in her 90s.

More than 210,000 members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive entity that is often said to be a cult, are currently undergoing screening to determine if they have been infected with COVID-19.

As such, authorities expect that the national total will continue to rise.

The church remains the biggest cluster in South Korea, accounting for about half of the country’s confirmed cases.

Daegu, the South Korean city with a population of 2.5 million, has essentially become a ghost town, with once-bustling streets and shopping malls now abandoned.

Authorities have also warned the public to take precautionary measures and to be careful when they are out. Anyone who has a fever or respiratory symptoms should isolate themselves at home.

Despite the surge in the number of confirmed cases in South Korea over the past week, officials say that they are not intending to impose a citywide quarantine like what was imposed on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun held a meeting in Daegu and said, “Please refrain from holding big outdoor meetings or indoor religious assemblies.”

Over here in Singapore, travel restrictions have also been imposed on Daegu city and Cheongdo county.