{"id":3204,"date":"2020-05-11T16:15:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T09:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/illume-emag.com\/?p=3204"},"modified":"2020-05-11T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T09:15:17","slug":"south-korea-scrambles-contain-new-coronavirus-outbreak-threatening-seoul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/south-korea-scrambles-contain-new-coronavirus-outbreak-threatening-seoul\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea scrambles to contain new coronavirus outbreak threatening Seoul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SEOUL \u2014 South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak that is threatening to spread throughout the densely populated capital city of Seoul, leading the country to reconsider plans to reopen schools.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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People wearing masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) arrive at Gimpo international airport in Seoul, South Korea, May 1, 2020. Photo: Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n

Officials reported 35 new infections across the country as of midnight on Sunday, the second consecutive day of new cases of that magnitude and the highest numbers in more than a month, reinforcing fears the country could be entering a second wave outbreak.<\/p>\n

The 69 cases reported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) over the past 48 hours were equivalent to the number of cases it recorded over the entire previous week.<\/p>\n

Most of the new cases were linked to an outbreak at several Seoul nightclubs and bars.<\/p>\n

Authorities had tested 4,000 people who had patronized the night spots, but were still trying to track down around 3,000 more.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur top priority is to minimize the spread of the infections in the greater Seoul area,\u201d Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting with government officials on Monday.<\/p>\n

Chung called for local governments to mobilize as many personnel as available and work with police to track down the missing patrons, some of whom authorities suspect of intentionally avoiding being tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should quickly find and test them, and speed is key,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The spike in cases comes just as the South Korean government was easing some social distancing restrictions and moving to fully reopen schools and businesses, in a transition from intensive social distancing to \u201cdistancing in daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seoul\u2019s education superintendent proposed delaying reopening schools scheduled to begin on Wednesday by one week in light of the new outbreak,\u00a0Yonhap News Agency<\/em>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon pleaded with clubgoers to be testing, warning that people caught evading testing could be fined.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Seoul was penetrated, the nation is at risk,\u201d he said, noting the city currently has fewer than 700 of the nation\u2019s 10,909 cases, which include 256 deaths.<\/p>\n

In a speech to the nation on Sunday, President Moon Jae-in warned that \u201cit\u2019s not over until it\u2019s over,\u201d adding that the new cluster shows the virus can spread widely at any time.<\/p>\n

Source Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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SEOUL \u2014 South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak that is threatening to spread throughout the densely populated capital city of Seoul, leading the country to reconsider plans to reopen schools. People wearing masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) arrive at Gimpo international airport in Seoul, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[761],"tags":[1828,1123],"class_list":{"0":"post-3204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrity-buzz","8":"tag-coronavirs","9":"tag-covid-19"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavyon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}