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South Korea Reinstates Lockdown Amid New Wave COVID-19 Infections

Parks, museums and state-run theaters in Seoul will be closing down for the next two weeks, as South Korea marks its biggest spike in new COVID-19 cases in more than 50 days. Officials are also advising residents to avoid any unnecessary gatherings and to keep sick employees at home. 

The Return of Anti-Coronavirus Measures 

67 of the 79 new cases were reported in Seoul, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, with the city hosting roughly half of the country’s 51 million people. 

KCDC Director Jeong Eun-Kyeong said that if the number keeps growing, social distancing restrictions might have to be reimposed as the difficulty of tracking transmission increases proportionately to public activity. 

South Korea was seeing as many as 500 new cases a day in early March before stabilizing and achieving success in limiting the spread of the virus through aggressive testing and tracking, with social distancing guidelines being relaxed early May. 

After the measures were relaxed, thousands started going to nightclubs and other entertainment venues again, which have been linked to a large number of infections. Bars, karaoke rooms, and others were closed in recent weeks to limit large gatherings that may lead to many infections. 

So far, at least 82 infections have been traced back to workers at a warehouse operated by e-commerce giant Coupang, with authorities planning to test more than 4,000 workers and visitors to the warehouse.

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