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| Chinese students leave the building where they were quarantined for the last two weeks at Danguk University's campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday./ Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
The number of new coronavirus cases declined for the fourth straight day, Monday, with the daily total only rising by 131, according to government officials, Tuesday.
The total number of COVID-19 patients in Korea on Monday was 7,513, with 60 fatalities.
During a daily press conference, an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the COVID-19 spread has entered a "stagnation" phase.
"Given that the number of confirmed cases is decreasing every day, it can be said that the virus spread has stagnated. This only means that there are fewer new cases. There are still 100 new cases and quarantine authorities will discover more. It's still far from saying we're safe," said the official, Yoon Tae-ho.
The last time the daily tally of new cases was lower than 200 was Feb. 25.
The ministry official also warned of the possibility of group transmission.
"We still see reports of group transmission sporadically and we need to be aware of this. No more cases like those at the Shincheonji Church or Daenam Hospital should happen."
In Seoul, the largest group transmission case was reported on Monday at a local insurance company call center, involving 64 employees and their family members.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nearly 80 percent of the coronavirus infections here happened through group transmission.
The big drop in the number of new cases is attributed to the fact that the government completed coronavirus tests on all members of the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus ― almost 10,000 people. In other parts of the country, the government only ran tests on those with symptoms.
On Tuesday, the government said it sorted the Shincheonji members by vocation and found 1,363 working at nursing homes across the country.
The government checked due to a particularly high number of group infections in nursing homes and similar facilities. It added most of them had not had a test run on them and therefore it would do so.
Among the 131 new patients was a civil servant working for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in Sejong's Government Complex, the second case after the health ministry employee.
Buildings in the Government Complex are all connected, making employees particularly vulnerable to infection. The government evacuated all people from the same floor of the building where the patient worked and disinfected it.
In Jeonju, South Jeolla Province, the local government said it will offer 500,000 won in financial support to 50,000 city residents who are suffering financially because of the coronavirus.
In Seoul, Mayor Park Won-soon also advocated for emergency financial support for city residents whose lives are badly affected by the new coronavirus outbreak.
"I know the government is not in a position to push this anymore because it already submitted its budget plan to the National Assembly. I would like to appeal to members of the National Assembly so that they can consider it," Park said during a press briefing.
Dismissing critics who called the measure pure populism, Park said, "This is not a populist policy. In a time of crisis, big government spending is unavoidable."
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