S. Korea’s new COVID-19 cases soar to over 115,000
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases rebounded to over 115,000 Tuesday after declining for a few days, due largely to fewer tests, as the virus trend continues at a steady pace.
The country reported 115,638 new COVID-19 infections, including 380 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 23,142,479, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Tuesday’s tally is a jump from the previous day’s 43,142, but is in the range of 100,000-150,000 reported last week, except for the weekend and Mondays when the infection numbers tend to dip as fewer people take diagnostic tests.
The country added 71 COVID-19 deaths, putting the death toll at 26,689, the KDCA said. The fatality rate stood at 0.12 percent.
The number of critically ill patients remained high at 591, slightly down from the four-month high of 597 reported Monday.
Experts have predicted the latest new wave would not be as serious as the last time with the daily peak of over 620,000 cases, but called for not lowering the vigilance against cases involving high-risk groups with underlying diseases and the elderly.
Amid the moderate virus trend, health authorities are considering removing the mandatory pre-travel COVID-19 test requirement for inbound travelers to South Korea, while maintaining the mandate to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in the first 24 hours of arrival.
