The Korea Disease Management Agency (CDC) said that as of 0:00 on December 10, Korea had recorded 682 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 40,098. The number of new cases for two consecutive days was at the threshold of 600 cases / day, of which, 646 cases occurred in the community, 36 cases were imported.
The current widespread epidemic trend in Korea is due to the constant occurrence of events of collective infection at people’s daily life places such as restaurants, bars, markets, etc., in addition to collective infection events in places with high risk of infection such as in healthcare settings.
The number of new cases increased continuously for many consecutive days in Korea, causing the number of critically ill patients and the number of deaths to increase sharply. Within a day, there were 23 more critically ill patients, bringing the total number of critically ill patients up to 0:00 on December 10 was 172 people. After 8 additional deaths, the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Korea was 564 with a mortality rate of 1.41%. The increasing number of critically ill patients put the epidemic prevention agency on alert as well as posed the risk of a shortage of hospital beds and an increased burden on the health system.
The Korean government raised the social gap to 2.5 with the capital Seoul and neighboring provinces, level 2 with the rest of the country, and promoted many measures such as expanding active testing, increasing the number of patient beds, but these efforts are not enough to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
Therefore, the Korean government decided to set up more than 150 mobile testing stations in Seoul and neighboring localities to detect asymptomatic cases early. These test stations will be located in places where young people gather such as universities and train stations. Residents can get an anonymous free test and only need to confirm their cell phone number.
The Korean government emphasized that wearing a mask, adhering to strict social gaps and early testing are the most effective “vaccine doses” from now until the launch of Covid-19 vaccination. The government once again suggested residents postpone their year-end gatherings or travel plans, limiting unnecessary encounters and contacts.