Seoul mandates face masks after sudden surge in COVID-19 cases

South Korea’s capital Seoul mandated the wearing of face masks in both indoor and outdoor public places on August 24. This step came as a measure to battle the novel coronavirus after the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. According to the reports, South Korea has recorded a total number of 17,665 cases with 309 casualties.

Seoul mandates masks- a measure to fight coronavirus

Reports by Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that the 266 new cases were reported as per the Midnight of August 23. Most of the people recently infected live in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan region. The health workers are struggling hard to track transmissions from various sources, including churches, restaurants, schools and workers.

Read: 10th Day Of Triple-digit New Virus Cases In South Korea

In a nationally televised announcement on August 18, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said that strengthening social distancing restrictions for the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to half of the country’s 51 million people, was inevitable because a failure to slow transmissions there could result in a major outbreak nationwide. “We are at a crucial moment where a failure to put under control would quickly develop into a major outbreak nationwide”, Chung said. The government had resisted calls to strengthen social distancing measures for months. This was because the government was not in favour of hurting the fragile economy as the policymakers said that it could shrink for the first time in two decades.

Read: Seoul Surge Appears To Spread Around South Korea

Initially South Korea gained a lot of praise for its success in tackling the novel coronavirus. The country used measures like extensive testing and aggressive contact-tracing. However, health ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said that the health investigators had been unable to determine the transmission routes of about 20% of the recent cases and this has been raising concerns over the silent spreaders.

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Also Read: Anti-govt Protest In Seoul Amid Heightening Virus Risk

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