Newly appointed Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Saturday the third wave of COVID-19 in South Korea is spreading indiscriminately at homes and workplaces regardless of time and place during the year-end and New Year season.

Chairing his first meeting at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Kwon said that cluster infections continue at prisons, nursing homes and churches while small personal gatherings are also spreading the virus.

He said that over a thousand people have tested positive at temporary preemptive test sites installed across the Seoul metropolitan area and that the number of patients waiting for hospital space is falling as more sickbeds become available.

But the minister noted that infections are not decreasing, with daily cases still at around one thousand. 

Kwon stressed that how Koreans spend the holiday season will determine whether the third wave can be curbed.

He urged public cooperation in quarantine efforts so that distancing measures can have the intended effect and a healthy new year can be ushered in.

The minister said he feels a heavy sense of responsibility to take on the post at a critical time and vowed to do his best to safeguard public health and bring a return to normal life.