Asia Today: S. Korea begins fining people not wearing masks
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported its biggest daily jump in COVID- 1 9 cases in 70 days as the government began fining people who fail to wear mask sin public.
The 191 new cases Friday represented the sixth consecutive day above 100 and was the highest daily increase since Sept .4, when authorities reported 198 new infections.
More than 120 of the cases were from the Seoul metropolitan area, where t he coronavirus has spread in hospitals, nursing homes, churches, schools, restaurants and offices.
The continuing spread has al armed government officials, who have eased social distancing measures to soften the pandemic's shock on the economy.
While this has allowed high-risk venues like nightclubs and karaoke bears to reopen, Prime Minister Chung S yeky unsaid the spread could force the gove rn ment to seriously consider tightening social distancing again.
“We are in a precarious situation,” he said, pleading for vigilance and for labor unions and civic groups to cancel planned rallies.
South Korea has so far weathered its outbreak without major lock downs, relying on an aggressive test-andquarantine program and relatively widespread use of masks.
On Friday, officials started imposing fines of up to 100,000 won ($90) for people who fail to wear masks in public transport and other venues including hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, nightclubs, karaoke bars, religious and sports facilities.
In Seoul, city employees were deployed at subway stations and bus stops to monitor commuters.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
• With COVID-19 beds in government-run hospitals nearly full in New Delhi, the local government decided to ask 33 of the capital's 115 private hospitals to reserve 80% of intensive care beds for corona virus patients. While India's national totals have held steady recently, the virus is surging in the capital. New Delhi recorded 104 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest since mid-June, and 7,053 new infections Friday. The Health Ministry reported 44,879 new cases and 547 deaths nationwide. India has counted 8.7 million cases and 128,668 fat alities. The surge in New Delhi has been attributed to people crowding shopping areas and ignoring social distancing norms during the festival season. The key Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, is celebrated Saturday.
•Residents of Mongolia' s capital of
Ulaanbaatar have been told to stay at home as part of a nationwide lockdown imposed through Tuesday following the detection of new coronavirus cases. Residents of the city of 1.4 million will be permitted to leave for necessary errands, such as to purchase groceries and medications, the official Montsame news agency reported. Social distancing measures must be maintained at all times when leaving home, and employees of hospitals and other essential facilities must show identification when commuting, t he report said. Police and military personnel were being deployed to ensure compliance, it said. Ulannbaatar confirmed two cases of community transmission on Nov. 9 and another in an outlying area on Thursday. Since then, six other relatives or others who came into close contact with those infected have also tested positive for COVID- 19. A vast but lightly populated nation landlocked between China and Russia, Mongolia has recorded just over 400 confirmed cases. No deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in Mongolia.