SKorea: More virus patients released
SOUTH Korea -- once the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China -- saw its newly recovered patients exceed fresh infections for the first time on Friday, as it reported its lowest number of new cases for three weeks.
The South confirmed 110 new cases on Thursday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, taking the total to 7,979.
But 177 fully recovered patients were released the same day, it added.
South Korea has an advanced medical system widely available to all, and has embarked on a huge coronavirus testing drive.
But its stock market was caught up in the global economic concerns over the pandemic, with trading briefly halted on the Korea stock exchange six minutes after the opening when the benchmark KOSPI index fell to 1707.90, down 6.8 percent or 126.43 points.
It was the second consecutive day trading had been halted on the main bourse, the first time that had happened since the US credit rating was downgraded in 2011.
The number of new cases in Daegu, the southern city at the centre of the outbreak, and the neighbouring province of North Gyeongsang had declined “dramatically”, officials said.