Free COVID-19 testing sites across Seoul see a rise in visitors following the long Chuseok holiday.
(Photo: Yonhap)
As the spread of COVID-19 continues to intensify across South Korea, health authorities have reported more than 2,300 new cases of infection.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Monday that 2,356 local cases of transmission and 27 imported infections were confirmed in the last 24 hours, raising the total case count to 303,553.
According to the latest figures, more than 90 percent of the newly identified patients were from the greater Seoul area, fueling fears the country has yet to face the worst of an anticipated post-Chuseok holiday surge.
Six more lives were also taken by the virus pushing the death toll to 2,456.
Despite the enforcement of the toughest virus curbs since the start of the pandemic, daily caseloads have stayed over 1,000 for the last 83 days, hitting an all-time high of 3,273 on Saturday.
In a bid to speed up the national vaccination campaign and achieve herd immunity by November, authorities will announce a plan to inoculate pregnant women and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 starting in October.
Booster shots may also be administered to medical workers and people over the age of 60 in the fourth quarter of the year.
KDCA data showed more than 74 percent of South Koreans have so far received one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 23 percent have been fully vaccinated.
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