South Korea Admits Failure In Containing Coronavirus; Imposing Emergency Measures

The Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC) on February 22 confirmed 142 new cases of Covid-19 infections in the morning and 87 in the afternoon, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 433. Among them, there are 92 new cases being related to a hospital in Cheongdo county.

Cheongdo county and Daegu city are now designated as “special care zones” by the Korean government for accounting for the majority of coronavirus cases in the country. It is known that Cheongdo, 27 km south of Daegu, is the home of Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu.

Local officials said three weeks ago, the three-day-long funeral of Lee’s brother was held in a hall of Cheongdo Hospital. More than 150 members of the New Heavenly Church were identified positive for coronavirus. A 61-year-old believer was identified as "Patient No. 31" and is believed to have spread the virus to dozens of others.

With the increasing number of coronavirus cases, South Korean President Moon Jae-in emphasized that the development of an acute respiratory infection caused by a new strain of coronavirus in the country has entered a very serious period.

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun also said that the government will give priority to prevent the virus from spreading locally. Accordingly, Mr. Chung affirmed that the current priority is to treat patients with coronavirus infection and find out who has been in contact with the patients.

On the same day, the US confirmed 34 people infected with Covid-19, a rapid increase from the original 13 cases, after repatriating citizens from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the Covid-19 cases include 18 passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan and three people in Wuhan and all of them have just been brought home. Previously, the United States recorded only 13 cases of Covid-19 in the territory.

The CDC also announced a new way of calculating the case, in which they will divide the coronavirus cases into two categories: oversea and domestic.

The United States previously reported 15 cases of Covid-19 in the country but dropped to 13 cases after two cases were labeled as US citizens infected with coronavirus oversea. Positive cases are currently reported in California, Massachusetts, Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

The Covid-19 outbreak has been reported in 30 countries and territories after the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Worldwide, 77,672 people were infected with coronavirus, 2,360 people died, 20,895 people recovered and 12,071 were in critical condition.

Update: Coronavirus cases in South Korea are reported to surge past 760, while death tolls raise to 7.

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