New Delhi (NVI): Authorities in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and surrounding areas have banned gatherings of more than four people over the Christmas and New Year holidays as the country recorded its highest daily death toll from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, police raided venues suspected of violating social-distancing rules, according to media reports.
The new restrictions came as the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 24 additional deaths as of midnight on Sunday, bringing the total death toll to 698. The country’s fatality rate is 1.38 per cent.
The South Korean government has resisted calls to impose a strict national lockdown but the governments of Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon city today ordered unprecedented restrictions on gatherings from December 23 to January 3.
While addressing a media briefing, Seoul’s acting mayor Seo Jung-hyup said, “We cannot overcome the current crisis without reducing cluster infections that are spreading through private gatherings with families, friends and colleagues,” adding that, “This is the last chance to break the spread.”
The ban on gatherings applies to all indoor and outdoor functions except funerals and weddings. Currently, they ban gatherings of more than nine people.
Notably, the two cities combined and the province account for about half of South Korea’s 51 million residents.
South Korea’s total caseload now exceeds 50,000 – only 11 days since the country surpassed 40,000 – as the authorities struggle to contain a recent spike in cases.
-CHK
