DAILY COVID-19 CASES BACK IN 300S

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea recorded 370 new daily COVID-19 cases, a decrease of 81 from the day before bringing the total caseload back to the 300s after three days. The number of daily cases has been hovering over 300-400 since mid-January. The government will decide whether or not to ease restrictions on business hours this coming weekend in line with the COVID-19 situation in the nation.

[Pkg]

Four people contracted the U.K. variant of COVID-19 at a family gathering in Gimhae.
The outbreak began when a foreign national who arrived from the UAE reportedly self-quarantined on the second floor of a detached house, whereas his family members resided on the first floor of the same house. However, quarantine authorities believe this person broke quarantine rules by having other relatives visit the house.

[Soundbite] Park Young-joon(Central Disaster Control HQs) : "No other sources of infection have been found. Given the time of infections, the outbreak presumably started after the relatives' visit."

So far, 39 cases of COVID-19 variants have been confirmed in Korea. Authorities are concerned about another massive outbreak that may hit the country in the spring, as the new virus variants are more infectious. There are also concerns that the anticipation around vaccine development and the growing fatigue have undermined public vigilance. A reason why possibility of a 4th wave between March and April can not be ruled out.

[Soundbite] Kwon Jun-wook(Central Disease Control HQs) : "If public vigilance goes down in March or April due to fatigue from the pandemic, we could face another outbreak."

Another factor raising the chance of a spring outbreak is the no apparent, noticeable decrease in daily cases being recorded. The median daily number of cases has stayed at around 400 in the past week, remaining within the 300-400 range for three weeks since mid-January. This is why authorities are having a hard time deciding whether or not it'd be safe to let facilities stay opened longer in the evening.

[Soundbite] Chung Sye-kyun(Prime Minister) : "Rather than setting guidelines unilaterally, businesses and the public should devise them on together and follow them."

Quarantine authorities will make a final decision on easing the standing restrictions this coming weekend in line with the number of cases and the virus reproduction rate.