Seoul: South Korea confirmed 813 more coronavirus cases on Saturday, the biggest increase to date for the country and taking the national total to 3,150 infections with four additional deaths.
Authorities also reported the country’s first case of reinfection — a 73-year-old woman who tested positive for a second time after her recovery and release from hospital last week.
The illness recurred “as her immune system had declined”, said Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) official Kwon Jun-wook.
At least 10 reinfection cases have already been reported in China, Kwon added. More than 90 percent of the new cases were in Daegu, the centre of the country’s outbreak, and its neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Three women in the Daegu area and one man died of the illness, taking the national toll to 17, the statement added. All were aged in their 60s or older.
The national total is expected to rise further with screening of more than 260,000 people associated with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive entity often accused of being a cult that is linked to around half of the country’s cases.
A 61-year-old female member developed a fever on February 10, but attended at least four church services in Daegu — the country’s fourth-largest city with a population of 2.5 million — before being diagnosed.
Facing public criticism, a Shincheonji spokesman said the church members were victims of a “witch hunt”. (AFP)
