S. Korea: New cases in 600s for 3rd day, inoculations for seniors to speed up
The country reported 695 more COVID-19 cases, including 674 local infections, raising the total caseload to 133,289, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The daily caseload remained in the 600s for the third consecutive day as cluster infections in schools, workplaces and bars continued to pop up across the nation.
There was one additional death, raising the total to 1,969.
Health authorities remain on guard against sporadic infections and more transmissible variant cases while ramping up efforts to inoculate the elderly population, who are considered more vulnerable to the coronavirus.
The southwestern city of Daegu on Thursday strengthened its virus curbs in response to a sharp hike in additional patients and the rise of British variant cases.
Authorities expect to achieve the goal of inoculating over 13 million, or a quarter of the nation's total population, by the end of June, considering a smooth supply of vaccine doses and a high reservation rate for vaccines, which stood at 80.6 percent among those aged 60 and over as of Thursday.
A total of 7.08 million people, including 342,576 the previous day, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines since the vaccine rollout on Feb. 26, taking up 13.8 percent of the total population.
Vaccine doses by AstraZeneca and Pfizer were administered to 4.5 million and 2.5 million people, respectively.
The KDCA said 2.25 million people, or 4.4 percent of the total population, have been fully vaccinated, with 25,504 receiving their second jabs the previous day.
An airplane carrying the U.S. government's supply of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine for 1 million people is expected to arrive here early Saturday, which will be the fourth COVID-19 vaccine available in the nation.
The Janssen vaccines will be given to reservists, members of civil defense and those related to the country's defense and foreign affairs in line with Washington's pledge to donate them to Korean troops, and those aged under 30 will be excluded amid concerns over blood clots.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 205 came from Seoul and 204 from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
A high school in northern Seoul has reported 35 cases among its students.
The southeastern city of Daegu reported 65 new patients, the highest outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
In response to a sharp hike in new cases, which was the highest since March 2020, the Daegu provincial government on Thursday strengthened the Level 1.5 social distancing to Level 2, the third-highest of the five-tier scheme, shortening business hours for restaurants, cafes and other venues.
There were 21 additional imported cases, with 15 coming from Asian nations excluding China.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 151, up two from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 133,289, up 590 from a day earlier.