A medical worker collects a specimen from a person for COVID-19 testing at a temporary screening station in front of Seoul Station on May 31, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases remained in the 400s for the second consecutive day Monday partly due to fewer tests over the weekend, while health authorities are grappling with sporadic cluster infections across the nation.
The country reported 430 more COVID-19 cases, including 411 local infections, raising the total caseload to 140,340, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The daily caseload was down from 480 on Sunday, when the figure fell below 500 for the first time in 20 days partly due to fewer tests over the weekend.
There were two additional deaths, raising the total to 1,959.
As of 9 p.m. Monday, 427 new infections, including 148 in Seoul and 111 in Gyeonggi Province, were found nationwide, 32 more than the same time a day earlier, according to health authorities and local governments.
New cases popped up in various settings, including workplaces, churches and bars, and the number of untraceable cases remained high, posing challenges to the country’s virus fight.
The proportion of untraceable cases stood at 26.1 percent over the past week, hovering over 20 percent since early December.
Health authorities said they are closely monitoring the recent drop in new cases to see whether it was attributable to fewer tests over the weekend or early signs of letup in virus transmissions.
“As cluster infections continue to occur at multiuse facilities, private gatherings and workplaces, abiding by antivirus rules in daily lives has become ever more important,” KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said in a briefing, vowing to continue antivirus efforts and carry out widespread preemptive testing.
As the vaccine rollout among the elderly population gains pace, the government is set to ease social distancing guidelines in phase for those who have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines.
While up to eight immediate family members are currently allowed to gather, those who have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines will be partly exempt from the social distancing rule starting Tuesday.
People who have gotten their first shots will be allowed to take their masks off outdoors starting in July, and get discounts on fees at major public facilities, authorities said.
The government aims to inoculate at least 13 million people, or a quarter of the country’s population, by the end of June, as part of its goal to achieve herd immunity in November.
As the U.S. government’s supply of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine for 1 million people is set to arrive here this week following Washington’s pledge to donate vaccines for Korean troops, South Korea will be able to inoculate 14 million in the first half of this year, the KDCA said.
Reservists, civil defense members and diplomacy and defense-related officials who are aged 30 and over will be eligible for the Janssen vaccine from June 10-20, and the online reservation system for them will open Tuesday, the KDCA said.
A COVID-19 vaccination center in a Seoul clinic is crowded with elderly people, who are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, on May 31, 2021. (Yonhap)
A total of 5.4 million people, including 4,797 the previous day, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, taking up 10.5 percent of the total population, since the country started its vaccination program on Feb. 26.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been given to 3.2 million people, while 2.1 million have received that of Pfizer.
The KDCA said 2.14 million people have been fully vaccinated, with an additional 87 receiving their second jabs the previous day, accounting for 4.2 percent of the total population.
A total of 27,628 cases of side effects after vaccinations have been reported, although 94.9 percent of them were mild symptoms.
So far, a total of 182 post-vaccination deaths have been confirmed, but the exact causes of the deaths remain unknown as causality could not be determined, the KDCA said.
Three women in their 70s died after vaccinations over the past two days, it said.
The nation’s first rare blood clot case was reported in a man in his early 30s, who received the AstraZeneca vaccine jab on May 27.
The worker at a care facility was hospitalized for treatment after reporting a serious headache and convulsions, and is now in a stable condition, the agency said.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 129 came from Seoul and 146 from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
The southeastern city of Daegu added 31 new patients, and the southeastern port city of Busan had 16 more cases.
There were 19 additional imported cases, down three from a day earlier.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 149, down one from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 130,823, up 442 from a day earlier.
(Yonhap)
