S. KOREA REPORTS 1,842 NEW CASES

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea has again added a record number of new COVID-19 cases of 1,842 as of Thursday. The greater capital area has been placed under level-four social distancing rules for more than ten days. But COVID-19 infections are continuing to increase, showing no signs of abating. Experts are calling for extending the current social distancing restrictions and taking additional anti-virus curbs.

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11 p.m. As police raid a bar, groups of customers and employees rush out of it.

[Soundbite] (Police) : "You can go in after filling out the documents. Please refrain from sudden, inappropriate actions."

On the same day, some 90 people were caught red-handed violating anti-coronavirus rules while drinking at bars that stayed open beyond the business curfew. These violations make it harder to trace and manage infected people and their contacts, since it is difficult to identify their travel routes. As cluster transmissions at public baths, gyms and religious facilities continue to grow, the daily infection tally again topped 600 in Seoul in just a week. More than a third of the total COVID-19 patients are infected with the Delta variant, which is two times more transmissible than the original strain. Therefore, it is not easy to control and curb the continuing surge. This is why calls for extending level-four distancing restrictions are growing stronger. The current rules are set to end on Sunday. Authorities will make a decision after watching the situation more. They asked the people to avoid traveling to other regions and go on vacations at different times if possible.

[Soundbite] Kim Boo-kyum(Prime Minister) : "Late July or early August will likely be the crucial juncture. Now is the time for us to take brief breaks from everything."

The government initially aimed to operate a brief but intensive level-four period. But it's proving to be difficult. Therefore, experts believe it is necessary to consider taking additional anti-virus measures.

[Soundbite] Choi Won-suk(Korea University Ansan Hospital) : "The most realistic option for now is raising social distancing levels in non-capital regions while maintaining the current measures in the greater Seoul area."

South Korea reported some 180,000 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began a year and a half ago. 10,000 or 5.5 percent were added last week.