S. Korea steps up efforts against cluster virus infections amid slowing new cases

SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea saw another decline in its daily new infections Friday, as massive testings in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the new coronavirus here, were nearing an end, but health authorities were ramping up measures to contain cluster infections across the nation. The 110 new cases of the coronavirus, which were detected Thursday and marked the lowest number of daily infections in more than two weeks, brought the nation's total infections to 7,979. Thursday's additional cases, which followed the 114 new cases detected Wednesday, were also far below the daily increases of 500 or more last week. So far, 67 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses, have died in South Korea from the respiratory virus that emerged in China late last year, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. About 61 percent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji religious sect in Daegu, which is the country's fourth-largest city with a population of 2.5 million. The pace of daily new inflections has shown signs of slowing in recent days as health authorities completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers who are at the center of the rapid spread, but authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, including at a call center in Seoul's Guro district and the country's government complex in the administrative city of Sejong. Of the 110 new cases, 61 are in Daegu and four are in North Gyeongsang, the KCDC said. The total number of confirmed cases in Daegu and North Gyeongsang, the two epicenters of the virus outbreak here, stood at 5,928 and 1,147, respectively. Other major provinces and cities have also reported some infections, with Seoul reporting 13 additional cases. Since raising the virus alert level to "red," the highest level, on Feb. 23, health authorities have focused on halting the spread of the virus in Daegu and North Gyeongsang. The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic as the virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica. South Korea had released a total of 510 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Thursday, up 177 from a day earlier, the KCDC said. Thursday's number of cured people, which marked the biggest one-day increase so far, exceeded the number of daily new infections in South Korea for the first time since Jan. 20, when the virus was first detected on South Korean soil. The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine came to 17,940 as of Thursday, down 213 from the day before, it said. The country has tested a total of 240,668 suspected cases, with 222,728 testing negative. Currently, there is no evidence that the new coronavirus is airborne. WHO said the virus is transmitted through droplets or close contact. kdh@yna.co.kr (END)