Korea's daily Covid-19 cases soared to a nearly six-month high Friday, as infections in the Seoul metro region continued to spike amid growing concerns about the Delta variant’s spread.
“The greater Seoul area faces a serious situation,” Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyoung said. “If the nation fails to control the current resurge, we have to brace up for another viral wave.”
Health officials said that they were ready to retighten the eased restrictions at any signs of massive infections.
The authorities had scheduled to implement an eased social distancing scheme nationwide from Thursday but decided to delay its implementation by a week in the greater Seoul area, including Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, due to a surge in cases in the region. Given the current spread in the capital area, however, they may have to shelve the plan for the rest of the country.
During the week of June 26-July 2, the daily average of locally confirmed cases in the Seoul metro region was 509. The figure surpassed the government's requirements to increase the social distancing scheme to Level 3 (more than 500 in Seoul and its vicinity) even under the new distancing standards.
"As of today, the daily average number of confirmed cases in the greater Seoul area has begun to meet the figure corresponding to level 3 under the new distancing system," Ministry of Health and Welfare Spokesperson Son Young-rae said.
On Friday, the daily Covid-19 tally totaled 826, the highest since Jan. 7, when the number reached 869.
The daily tally included 765 local infections, raising the total caseload to 158,549, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Friday. The latest figure was an increase of 64 from the previous day.
Three more people died of coronavirus, raising the death toll to 2,024. The fatality rate was 1.28 percent.
According to health authorities, the daily new cases in the greater Seoul area have accounted for over 80 percent of the total for a week.
As outdoor activities have soared and the new infections from the highly contagious Delta variants have been increasing in recent days, chances are very high that the new virus cases will further spike, they added.
Under the new rules, the ban on private gatherings of five or more people and the 10 p.m. curfew on restaurants had been expected to be lifted.
But other areas have been put under the eased social distancing rules.
KDCA Commission Jeung said that virus infections would likely explode in the greater Seoul area if the eased social distancing measures are put into place.
The spiking virus cases came as the country has been carrying out the vaccination program since late February.
The government has vaccinated 15,340,827 people – 10,395,575 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 3,779,467 with Pfizer's vaccine, 1,128,962 with Janssen's vaccine, 36,823 with Moderna's vaccine – with the first shot of the vaccine up 14,233 from the previous day.
The figure accounts for 29.9 percent of the country's population.