WARNING OF SECOND WAVE
Virus cases rise in S. Korea, China
SEOUL • South Korea warned of a second wave of the new coronavirus on Sunday as authorities also reported what could be the beginning of a new wave of cases in northeast China.
In Korea, infections rebounded to a one-month high, just as authorities were starting to ease some pandemic restrictions.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” President Moon Jae-in told the nation, saying a new cluster shows the virus can spread widely at any time, and warning of a second wave late this year.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 34 new infections, the highest since April 9, after a small outbreak emerged around a slew of nightclubs, prompting the authorities to temporarily close all nightly entertainment facilities around the capital.
The death toll remained at 256.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said the government will decide on whether it will reopen schools in stages starting from May 13 as planned after examining the impact of the nightclub cases for two to three days.
“We must never lower our guard regarding epidemic prevention,” President Moon said in a televised speech marking the third anniversary of his inauguration. “We are in a prolonged war. I ask everyone to comply with safety precautions and rules until the situation is over even after resuming daily lives.”
The outbreak is centred around a handful of Seoul nightclubs, which a man in his late 20s had visited before testing positive last week.
At least 24 out of the 26 new domestically transmitted infections were traced to that man, bringing the infections related to the case to 54, the KCDC said.
The KCDC said officials are tracking down about 1,900 people who have gone to the clubs, which could be increased to 7,000, asking anyone who was there last week to self-isolate for 14 days and be tested.
In China, a city in Jilin province has been reclassified as high-risk, the top of a three-tier zoning system.
Jilin officials raised the risk level of the city of Shulan to high from medium, having hoisted it to medium from low just the day before after one woman tested positive on May 7.
Eleven new cases in Shulan were confirmed on May 9, all of them members of her family or people who came into contact with her or family members.
The new cases pushed the overall number of new confirmed cases in mainland China on May 9 to 14, according to the National Health Commission on Sunday, the highest number since April 28.
Among them was the first case in more than a month in the city of Wuhan in central Hubei province where the outbreak was first detected late last year.