코로나19 신규확진 2049명…이틀 연속 2000명대
South Korea's daily COVID-19 tally was above 2-thousand again.
Based on new infections recorded Thursday evening, the number could dip slightly on Friday.
While the country's vaccination drive is going as planned, authorities remain concerned as a major national holiday that involves family gatherings is coming up.
Kim Cheong-ah has our top story.
South Korea added 2-thousand-49 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total caseload to 267-thousand-470.
Nine more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 2-thousand-343.
Daily cases have stayed in the four-digit range for over two months due to a surge driven by the Delta variant across the nation.
Around 70-percent of the infections are from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country's population lives.
Health authorities have expressed concerns over a further surge with the South Korean thanksgiving holiday Chuseok coming up in the third week of September.
If infections don't decrease in the metropolitan area, there is a high risk that the spread will increase to regions outside the capital area during the Chuseok holiday. Please comply with social distancing rules and refrain from gatherings."
So far, over 61-percent of the country's population have received their first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine while over 37-percent are fully vaccinated.
And to boost the nation's vaccination drive further, an additional batch of 873-thousand Moderna doses arrived in South Korea on Thursday afternoon.
The government has also said that it will provide support of up to 10 million won, or over 8-thousand-500 dollars per person for medical fees to people who show severe side effects after getting vaccinated even if they can't prove a direct causal relationship.
As the vaccination rate picks up, health authorities are also considering a shift to a gradual return to normalcy and living with the virusas early as the end of October if the country reaches its goal of vaccinating 80-percent of the population.
Kim Cheong-ah, Arirang News.
#COVID19 #Coronavirus #SouthKorea
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2021-09-09 22:00 (KST)
