South Korea has reported 19 new cases of the coronavirus, most from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been actively tracing transmissions linked to nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday also reported two more deaths, bringing national totals to 11,225 cases and 269 fatalities.
South Korea has been reporting around 20 new cases per day over the past two weeks after health workers found hundreds of infections linked to club goers who went out in early May as the country eased social distancing measures.
Earlier in the month, President Moon Jae-in urged the public to remain vigilant as the capital has ordered the closure of all clubs and bars after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a second coronavirus wave.
With around 7,200 people estimated to have visited the five establishments, health authorities have warned of a further spike in infections and have asked those who went to any of the venues to get tested.
The country was reporting around 500 new cases a day in early March before using aggressive tracing and testing to stabilize its outbreak.
Thirteen of the new cases came from Gyeonggi province surrounding capital Seoul, which on Saturday issued an administrative order to ban gatherings at an additional 2,629 bars and karaoke rooms, bringing its number of shut-down entertainment venues to 8,363.
Around 2.4 million high school juniors, middle school seniors, first and second graders and kindergarten students will be returning to school on Wednesday.
At least 1,138 infections have been linked to international arrivals, but such cases have declined after the country strengthened border controls in April, enforcing two-week quarantines on all passengers coming from abroad.
President Moon the new cluster had “raised awareness that even during the stabilisation phase, similar situations can arise again anytime”.
According to the Health Minister Park Neung-hoo, school officials to double check their preventive measures.
Meanwhile, coronavirus worldwide cases are nearing 5.6-million mark taking positive patients toll to 5,587,129 with 347,861 deaths while 2,365,645 have recovered, according to Worldometer figures.
The United States, Spain, Russia, UK, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France are among the worst-hit countries having maximum cases of coronavirus and the numbers are increasing every day.