Anchor: New COVID-19 cases in South Korea hit more than one-thousand yet again as clusters at a Seoul detention center and nursing facilities around the country continue to spread. Despite the surge, authorities assessed that the current situation is generally being managed thanks to increased testing and social distancing.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said as of 12:00 a.m. Monday, one-thousand-20 additional people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the country's cumulative total to 64-thousand-264.

The number of cases each day has been hovering around one-thousand up through Friday, amid continued expansions of clusters at a detention center in eastern Seoul and nursing facilities around the country.

The average daily local infections for the past week stood at 915-point-three, well within the threshold for Level Three social distancing.

Over a month into the third wave of the epidemic, the government assessed that the nation has begun to generally manage the situation, despite continued reports of clusters.

Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said on Monday that average daily local infections over the past three weeks have gradually declined, attributing the latest daily increase to over 120 new cases from the Seoul detention center.

Citing group infections more than halving and the virus' reproduction number dropping to one from one-point-11 in the past week, Health Ministry spokesperson Son Young-rae on Sunday said the situation has reached a turning point and is gradually passing its peak.

In a bid to curb the virus' spread at nursing homes, authorities announced on Sunday that they will separate confirmed cases from those who came into close contact and those who tested negative, while testing employees for the virus on a weekly basis.

Under the extended social distancing regulations until January 17, the ban on gatherings of five or more people has been expanded nationwide and includes all gatherings, not just those at restaurants. Businesses violating the rule will face a fine of up to three million won and individuals up to 100-thousand won.

Cram schools in the capital region and ski resorts nationwide that were previously forced to shut down will be able to reopen under entry and operation restrictions.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.