Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has warned the capital region may have to return to strict social distancing rules if the situation regarding the resurgence in local coronavirus infections becomes more serious.
During an emergency briefing Monday, Park said bad signs were being detected all throughout Seoul and the surrounding areas of a long-term battle against new clusters of COVID-19 and a potential second wave.
Park explained that from April 30 to June 11, South Korea's COVID-19 reproduction rate had sharply increased to 1.79, and stressed if the situation continues at this pace, it's predicted the daily number of new virus cases will hit 800 in a month.
He said if the number of additional cases in Seoul exceeds 30 for three days in a row or the hospitalization rate for virus infected patients reaches 70 percent, the city government would have no choice but to re-implement strict social distancing.
The metropolitan area accounted for most of the newly added cases this month, with cluster outbreaks at churches and door-to-door business establishments.
As of Sunday, some 480 coronavirus patients in Seoul remained hospitalized, maintaining the upward trend of the number of uncured patients since early May.
This has also raised concerns of a shortage of hospital beds for seriously ill patients.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
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