South Korea reports 334 new coronavirus cases in major jump
South Korea reported its largest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Thursday, with 334 new infections confirmed, bringing the total to 1,595 in the country.
The majority of the cases – including 307 of the new ones – are concentrated in the south-eastern city of Daegu, which has a population of around 2.5 million, and its surrounding region.
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The fast-spreading outbreak, which has also hit Cheongdo in North Gyeongsang Province, is the largest outside China, where the new coronavirus started spreading in December 2019.
Twelve deaths related to the Covid-19 illness caused by the virus have been recorded in South Korea, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) added.
Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States postponed joint training in light of Seoul’s “declaration of the highest alert level ‘severe’ on COVID-19,” South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) said in a statement.
South Korea’s joint Chiefs of Staff and US Forces Korea’s commitment to the South Korea-US alliance “remains ironclad and unbreakable, and the decision to postpone the combined training was not taken lightly,” the statement said, citing safety concerns for service members of both countries.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap this is the first time that that Washington and Seoul have decided to modify their joint exercises due to health issues.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said he may restrict travel to and from South Korea and Italy, the country with the third most infections reported, but only “at the right time.”
“Right now it’s not the right time,” Trump told reporters.
The US State Department however did raise its travel advisory for South Korea, advising citizens to reconsider travel to the country.
Earlier this week, the US military said one of its soldiers was in self-quarantine after testing positive to the virus. The 23-year-old is based at Camp Carroll, located near Daegu. There are 28,500 US military personnel in South Korea.
Most of the country’s cases have been linked to the Shincheonji church near Daegu, and to a hospital in Cheongdo.Read next:
