SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA) – South Korea’s capital city and nearby areas will close bars and nightclubs. It will also limit religious gatherings, and restrict service at restaurants, in a pursuit to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections, the health minister said on Sunday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 330 new daily coronavirus cases as of midnight on Saturday. This would mark the fifth straight day of more than 300 new cases.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo told a briefing, “The third wave of COVID-19 outbreaks is increasingly in full swing. The situation is extremely serious and grave.”
“We’re at a critical juncture of facing a large number of infections nationwide,” Chung said.
On Saturday, a KDCA official said the country could be facing an outbreak that goes beyond two earlier waves of infections, if it fails to block the current spread.