(LEAD) S. Korea reports 1 more case of novel coronavirus, total now at 31

All News 10:39 February 18, 2020

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in lead, paras 3-5)

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday identified another case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections here to 31, with the latest patient confirmed not to have been abroad recently.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the latest patient is a 61-year-old South Korean woman who lives in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

After testing positive at a public health center, the woman was placed in quarantine for treatment and monitoring. The public health authorities said they are tracing the patient's steps and working to find out how she contracted the illness.

The latest case again raises concerns over the spread of the disease without a link to known clusters of the COVID-19 virus.

It is still unclear how the country's 29th and 30th virus patients were infected with COVID-19, as they had not had contact with other confirmed patients or been abroad recently.

The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine came to 957 as of early Tuesday, up from 708 the day before, the KCDC said.

South Korea has screened 9,265 people for COVID-19 since Jan. 3, with 8,277 testing negative and 10 people having been discharged from quarantine after making full recoveries.