South Korea's Average Daily New Infection Cases Reached 500

JAKARTA - South Korean health authorities are increasing their attention and vigilance, as the average daily infection cases of COVID-19 in South Korea have increased to around 500 in the last four consecutive days.

Launching Koreatimes, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the Friday January 15 report said there were 513 new cases of infection. Less than the previous daily report of 524 cases.

Meanwhile, in an average week there are 555 new cases of COVID-19 infection, with an average of 523 cases of local infection. The total cases of COVID-19 infection in South Korea reached 71,241 cases.

These additional new cases included 122 cases from Seoul, 180 cases in Gyeonggi, 23 cases in Incheon, 45 cases in Busan and 21 cases in North Gyeongsang and South Gyeongsang.

For death cases, KDCA in its report Friday reported 22 cases of death, bringing the total deaths due to COVID-19 in South Korea currently reaching 1,217 cases.

In anticipation of a higher spike in new infection cases, the health authorities implemented a level 2.5 social distancing scheme, the second highest in the five-tier social distancing scheme in South Korea, for the Seoul area, while for other regions a relatively moderate level 2 was applied.

The tightening measures will be carried out until Sunday, while health authorities will evaluate whether the restrictions are extended or not on Saturday.

A ban on gatherings of five or more people remains banned, although health authorities have been asked to relax restrictions on some risky facilities, such as fitness centers and karaoke venues.