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(6th LD) S. Korea's new infections further slow amid woes over cluster outbreak, imported cases

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 6, 13-16, 20)

SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea saw another decline in its daily new infections Friday as a massive program of testing in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the new coronavirus here, neared an end, but health authorities were ramping up measures to contain cluster infections across the nation.

The 110 new cases of the coronavirus, detected throughout Thursday, marked the lowest number of daily infections in more than two weeks and brought the nation's total to 7,979.

A total of 177 patients were discharged from hospitals Thursday after they were declared cured in the biggest one-day increase so far, exceeding the number of new infections for the first time since Jan. 20, when the virus was first detected on South Korean soil.

This graph, provided by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on March 13, 2020, shows daily new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and total infections in South Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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.

Five more fatalities, including a 75-year-old woman with underlying illnesses, were reported earlier in the day, but they have not been included in an official update. The latest deaths all involved people in their 70s and 80s with three from Daegu.

The KCDC said 59 virus patients are in critical condition. The flu-like virus causes a fever, cough, runny nose or headache for most healthy people, but the risk of severe infection is high for elderly people with underlying health problems.

About 61 percent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji religious sect in Daegu, which, with a population of 2.5 million, is the country's fourth-largest city.

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 Ward 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.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday the central government is taking steps to designate Daegu and North Gyeongsang as "special disaster zones," in a bid to offer medical and financial support to help the regions recover from the virus.

While Daegu and North Gyeongsang still account for the majority of daily new infections, cases of community spread with unknown origins, mostly cluster and sporadic outbreaks, are gradually on the rise.

Seoul's tally of confirmed cases officially rose by 13 to 225, with at least 74 cases linked to the Guro call center and another 14 cases linked to Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital in Eunpyeong Ward. Another 13 cases in Seoul came from an apartment building in Seongdong Ward, and six more people were confirmed infected at a venture startup company in Gwanak Ward in the southern part of the city. The company has 20 employees, and local health officials say some 35 people may have come into contact with those infected.

Wards in the capital city reported an additional 15 cases later on in the day, bringing the total to at least 240, with the increased numbers to be reflected in the updated daily data to be released on Saturday.

Incheon's cases rose by three to 28, with 17 cases linked to the Guro call center, while Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and Incheon, saw confirmed cases climb by seven to 185, with 27 cases tied to Shincheonji and 18 cases connected to the Guro call center.

The province said that the Grace River Church in Seongnam, just south of the capital city, reported three confirmed cases among followers. The church said it will halt services for two weeks to help prevent the virus' spread and protect the public from infection.

Virus cases in Busan rose by one to 100, with 34 patients linked to a Christian church in the Dongnae district and another 10 patients linked to Shincheonji. The 34 patients of the Oncheon church in Busan are tied to the church's three-day retreat that ended on Feb. 17, officials said. It is still unclear how they were infected with the virus.

In South Chungcheong Province, which includes the city of Cheonan, 104 of the total 114 patients were linked to a Zumba dance class in Cheonan, the KCDC said.

Clusters of infections account for 79.8 percent of the total confirmed cases as of Friday, meaning that people can contract the virus if they are in crowded places.

Medical workers wearing protective gear test a visitor at a drive-through center for the new coronavirus at the government complex in Sejong, central South Korea, on March 13, 2020. At least 25 public officials in the city have been confirmed to be infected with the COVID-19 virus. (Yonhap)

The call center in Guro Ward is at the center of the largest cluster infection in Seoul so far, with at least 112 people linked to it testing positive for the virus, highlighting concerns about the virus' spread in a confined environment and within the metropolitan area.

Ringing an alarm bell over the spread of the virus at a sprawling government complex in the administrative capital of Sejong, 25 civil servants at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, as well as two of their family members, were infected with the virus over the past three days. Like other cluster infections, authorities cannot trace where the ministry's cluster started.

Some experts hope that the new coronavirus will behave like influenza, which thrives in the winter season in the northern hemisphere, and say warmer weather may help prevent the virus from further spreading.

However, KCDC Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong said it is "difficult to expect" that the spread of the virus will weaken in spring.

South Korea has also found people who were infected with the virus but showed no symptoms until their self-isolation ended, Jeong said.

Health authorities have let people know the locations virus patients visited and when they went there, raising concerns about privacy.

Jeong said authorities will soon set up guidelines that "will not undermine human rights and privacy," adding that it is inappropriate for authorities to reveal too much information on a virus patient.

Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official who is in charge of quarantine work, told a media briefing that health authorities will require 3,612 followers of Shincheonji who work at hospitals, kindergartens or nursing homes across the nation to get tests.

Yoon said the spread of the virus has shown signs of stabilization but warned against the "danger" of a growing number of imported virus cases.

Unlike other nations, which ban travel to virus-hit nations or put all people visiting such nations under mandatory two-week quarantine, South Korea has not implemented such stricter measures, except for foreigners who traveled to the global epicenter in China's Hubei Province.

South Korea's health authorities have said such strict measures may be futile because the virus has already taken root in South Korea and community spread cases are growing.

Instead, South Korea has tightened its immigration procedures, requiring international travelers to get fever checks and submit papers on their health condition. They are required to download a smartphone app that will allow them to be put under supervision if they show symptoms.

Such requirements have been applied to people who have visited mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, Iran and Italy. Starting Sunday, the requirement will be applied to people who arrive in South Korea after visiting five more European countries -- France, Germany, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands.

South Korea has tested a total of 155 travelers who have suspected cases, but 154 tested negative for the virus and the remaining person is awaiting test results, Yoon said.

A public official disinfects a Korean-style internet cafe, known as a "PC bang," in Incheon, west of Seoul on March 13, 2020, amid the spread of the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)

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.

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. The WHO said it is transmitted through droplets or close contact.

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