|
|
by IANS |
Seoul, Jan 2 (IANS) South Korea on Saturday announced its decision to extend the tightened social-distancing rules for two more weeks amid an unabated Covid-19 resurgence.
The Seoul metropolitan area will be placed under the second-highest Level 2.5 social-distancing guidelines for two more weeks until January 17, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.
The country's five-tier distancing scheme was elevated from the lowest Level 1 to Level 1.5 on November 19, 2020, in the capital area, which covers Seoul, its surrounding Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon, reports Xinhua news agency.
It was raised to Level 2 for two weeks between November 24 and December 7, before being lifted to Level 2.5 for four weeks until January 3, 2021, in the greater Seoul area.
In the latest tally, the country reported 824 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 62,593.
The daily caseload fell below 900 in five days due to fewer tests on the New Year's holiday.
The single-day infections have hovered above 100 since November 8.
The daily average number of confirmed cases for the past week was 956 nationwide, with the reading in the Seoul metropolitan area standing at 652.1.
All the other areas, which exclude the capital region, will be placed under the third-highest Level 2.0 social-distancing regulations for two more weeks.
Twenty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 942. The total fatality rate stood at 1.50 per cent.
A total of 625 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 43,578.
The total recovery rate was 69.62 per cent.
Since January 3, the country has tested more than 4.30 million people, among whom 4,060,819 tested negative for the virus and 179,387 are being checked.
