South Korea Now Also Facing a Spike in COVID-19 Cases; a Third Wave Looks Imminent

A while back, it was revealed that the majority of Singaporeans have picked South Korea as the foremost country the Republic should have an Air Travel Bubble with.

The result was determined via an online poll conducted by The Straits Times on Facebook on Wednesday (Oct 7). Readers were asked to choose from countries which Singapore has some form of travel arrangements with, or is currently in the process of arranging.

In the poll, South Korea was the clear winner, having garnered 40.7% of votes.

Well, no real surprise there, what with South Korea’s mythical bevy of kimchi, handsome oppas and beautiful women.

But here’s the thing. As stoked as Singaporeans may be at the prospect of flying to Korea…

…circumstances simply do not seem to be working out for them.

South Korea Now Also Facing a Spike in COVID-19 Cases

South Korea is facing a “third wave” of infections, and it’s one that could well surpass the previous two.

On Sunday (22 November 2020), the nation reported more than 300 new coronavirus cases for the fifth consecutive day.

It was a level that has not been witnessed since August, when the second wave broke out.

Officials have since warned that stricter rules may be imposed if the trend continues.

Unless there’s a substantial drop in infections, social distancing regulations may be forcibly upped by a tier.

On Saturday, a KCDA official revealed that the country was at “a critical juncture”.

If they fail to contain the current wave, it may spiral out of control and become a large-scale nationwide outbreak – one that makes the previous two waves pale in comparison.

Measures

Just last week, prevention measures were strengthened ahead of the annual college entrance exams, which are scheduled to take place on 3 December 2020.

All social gatherings were also put to a stop.

While bars, nightclubs, religious services and sports events continue to operate with restrictions in place, things could change if more social distancing measures are slotted into place.

Thus far, South Korea has remained adamant in its non-lockdown policy, having instead utilised a blend of aggressive tracing, testing and quarantine effort to extinguish outbreaks.

However, the measure has proved to be a minorly flawed one, as the country contended with a continuous number of small-scale infections.

To date, South Korea has 30,733 cases, with 505 deaths.

Previous Waves

In August this year, South Korea found itself on the brink of yet another major outbreak, after keeping the epidemic under control for around five months.

As of 17 August 2020, the country witnessed four straight days of new cases in the triple digits, with a four-day accumulated total of 745 cases.

In comparison, there was a peak of around 900 cases per day back in late February, during which the epidemic was at its strongest in the nation (when we all didn’t know how serious it could be).

Lest you’ve forgotten, the first peak revolved around the country’s fourth-largest city, Daegu, and a megachurch known as the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

The second peak, too, revolved around another religious group called the Sarang Jeil Church.

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