Seoul city adds 25 new coronavirus cases

SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- Amid heightened alert over new coronavirus infections in the metropolitan area, the number of new cases reported in South Korea's capital increased by 25 on Thursday, due mostly to a sharp rise in infections traced to a facility for the elderly.

All but one of the 25 cases were locally transmitted. Eleven were linked to a day care center for senior citizens in the northeastern ward of Dobong, while three were linked to a mass infection cluster at small churches and religious meetings in the metropolitan area.

Two of the cases were linked to a door-to-door health product seller whose target customers were the elderly. Infections linked to the company, based in the southwestern ward of Gwanak, have emerged as one of the biggest infections clusters in the capital, with a combined 97 infections. When including cases reported outside of Seoul, a total of 176 related cases have been identified as of noon Wednesday.

The latest infections related to the day care center and the health product seller have put health authorities on alert, as most of the patients are the elderly, who are likely to suffer more from the infectious virus.

South Korea in total added 59 cases, the most in three weeks, bringing the country's COVID-19 caseload to 12,257, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.