(LEAD) New virus cases under 1,000 for 2nd day, private gatherings to be banned from Wednesday

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SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 for the second consecutive day Tuesday, but the nation again recorded its highest daily death toll as health authorities tightened virus curbs to slow the spread of the virus.

The country added 869 more COVID-19 cases, including 824 local infections, raising the total caseload to 51,460, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally marked a decline from 926 cases Monday, 1,097 cases Sunday, 1,053 Saturday and 1,062 Friday.

Twenty-four people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 722. It was the second day in a row that the nation reported its highest daily death total. The fatality rate was 1.4 percent.

With one-day virus caseloads running at all-time highs last week, health authorities were considering whether to raise the country's social distancing guidelines to Level 3, the highest in its five-tier scheme.

However, authorities said they are aiming to contain the current wave of the pandemic without raising virus curbs to Level 3 on concerns over impacts on the economy.

Instead of applying the potential lockdown measure that would deal a severe blow to millions of small merchants, health authorities deployed "targeted" virus curbs.

Starting Wednesday, the greater Seoul area will ban gatherings of five or more people.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said ski resorts and famous tourism venues will be closed to contain the spread of the virus during the Christmas and New Year's holiday seasons.

South Korean authorities have expanded anonymous testing in the greater Seoul area since Dec. 14 to try to find people who are asymptomatic and infected with COVID-19. A total of 609 infections, including 131 cases in the past 24 hours, have been confirmed through such testing so far, the KDCA said.

South Korea has been applying Level 2.5 social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, home to half of its 51.6 million population, and Level 2 rules in the rest of the country.

Chains of cluster infections at facilities that include nursing homes and churches, and through private gatherings, continued to pop up.

A relentless spike in virus cases spawned concerns about a shortage of hospital beds and a rise in fatalities. Health authorities issued a rare order to private hospitals last Friday to secure more intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients.

Of the newly identified local infections, 309 cases were reported in Seoul and 193 cases in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, west of Seoul, reported 44 more cases.

Other municipalities reported new infections, with the country's largest port city of Busan adding 26 cases and North Gyeongsang Province reporting 58 new cases.

The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients reached 281, compared with 274 from the previous day.

The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 35,928, up 773 from the previous day.

The country, meanwhile, added 45 imported cases, increasing the total to 5,161. Sixteen cases came from the United States, followed by nine from Russia and five from Indonesia.

The country has carried out 3,772,432 coronavirus tests since Jan. 3. The country reported the first case on Jan. 20.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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