South Korea will continue its social-distancing efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus another two weeks, officials announced on Saturday.
The nation has frequently been cited as one of the most effective in containing the virus’s spread, with daily cases hovering around 100 new daily cases or fewer, but clusters have continued to emerge in environments like nursing homes, churches and hospitals, Reuters reported.
The South Korean government imposed its social distancing policy on March 21, asking high-risk facilities to close and banning religious, sports and entertainment events.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo, citing an uptick in cases believed to have been spread by travelers, said on Saturday it is “too early to be at ease,” Reuters noted.
“Our goal is to be able to control infections in a way that our health and medical system, including personnel and sickbeds, can handle them at usual levels,” Park told a briefing after a government meeting on the virus, according to the news service. “If the number goes down to 50 or lower, stable treatment of the patients including the critically ill will be possible without much pressure on the system.”
The nation saw 94 new cases of the virus on Saturday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bringing the national total to 10,156. The death toll increased by nine to a total of 183, Reuters reported.
Thirty-two of the new cases were repatriated patients, most of them Koreans, while another 31 were from the greater Seoul area and 26 from Daegu, the hardest-hit city during the pandemic. Park said domestic group transmissions had been restrained about 70 percent as a result of social distancing in the first 11 days of the order compared to the 11 days before it was implemented.
“We are well aware that many citizens are feeling exhausted and lethargic under continued social distancing,” Park said. “But if we get loose, the strenuous efforts that the government and the people have made so far might come to nothing.”