SEOUL, Feb 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – South Korea reported 161 more coronavirus
cases Monday, taking the nationwide total to 763 and making it the world’s
largest total outside China.
The country has seen a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases
since a cluster of infections emerged from a religious sect in the southern
city of Daegu last week.
Most of the country’s cases are connected to the Shincheonji Church of
Jesus in the southern city of Daegu, including 129 of Monday’s confirmations,
the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
Two more people had died, it added — both of them connected to a second
cluster around a hospital in Cheongdo — taking the toll to seven.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday raised the country’s virus
alert to the highest “red” level, in a bid to strengthen the government
response to the spiralling outbreak.
The government has extended kindergarten and school holidays by one week
nationwide and plans to enforce tighter two-week monitoring of arrivals from
China.