S.Korea reports 91 more COVID-19 cases, 9,332 in total

AFP

South Korea reported 91 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Friday local time, raising the total number of infections to 9,332.

The newly confirmed cases hovered around 100 in recent days. Of the total, 13 infections were detected at airports amid rising worry about the imported cases from abroad.

Eight more deaths were confirmed, lifting the death toll to 139. The total fatality rate came in at 1.49 percent.

A total of 384 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 4,528. The total recovery rate gained to 48.5 percent.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated the data once a day at 10am local time from March 10, after having announced it twice a day.

The virus infection soared for the past weeks, with 9,301 new cases reported from February 19 to March 26. The country has raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level.

The total number of infections in Daegu, about 300 km southeast of Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province increased to 6,516 and 1,283 respectively. It accounted for over 80 percent of the total.

The numbers in Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi province came to 372 and 412 each.

Daegu became the epicenter of the viral spread here as the biggest cluster of infections was found in the metropolis with a 2.5 million population. Daegu has been designated by the government as a "special disaster zone."

The Daegu cluster was closely linked to the church services of a homegrown minor religious sect, called Sincheonji, in Daegu. Members of the sect are known to sit on the floor closely side by side during church services.

Since January 3, the country has tested more than 376,000 people, among whom 352,410 tested negative for the virus and 15,219 were being checked.