GOV'T STRESS PREVENTION MEASURES

[Anchor Lead]

The number of new coronavirus cases in Korea on Wednesday is 635. The major indicators have improved, but there are no clear signs of a decrease. Health authorities stress the importance of virus prevention in the next 50 days until the senior population receives the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines.

[Pkg]

The average number of daily COVID-19 cases last week stood at 565 -- 32 fewer than the week prior. The virus reproduction rate: 1.12 in the first week of April. It fell for four consecutive weeks and recorded 0.94 last week. This was achieved without imposing additional restrictions despite the rapid surge of coronavirus cases around the world. However, the risk factors remain. In nearly half of the cases, the virus is contracted through personal contact with the infected. In more than a fourth of cases the source of infections is unclear. The number of variant cases is also on the rise. Their spread in local communities is gaining speed. Last week, 27.5 percent of cases were virus variants the highest rate since the first case of COVID-19 variant was detected in Korea. The government says virus prevention will be critical in the next 50 days until the senior population gets vaccinated. Data shows the risk of death declines by 80 percent after the first dose. The number of deaths and seriously ill patients is expected to decrease significantly among inoculated elderly people from July.

[Soundbite] Kwon Deok-cheol(Minister of Health and Welfare) : "Once the inoculation of seniors is complete in late June, we will be able to relax　virus prevention measures."

The government believes if daily cases are kept below one thousand until the end of June, the social distancing measures could be eased in July. It also warns that unvaccinated seniors could become more vulnerable once the restrictions are relaxed.