Health

Covid-19 cases in South Korea hit new high after major holiday period

Seoul, Sep 24 (EFE).- South Korea reported 2,434 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, almost 700 more than the previous day and a new record after one of the most important holiday periods in the country.

Of the new cases recorded, 2,416 were local infections and the remaining 18 were detected in overseas arrivas, according to data released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday.

The Seoul metropolitan area, made up of the capital, the nearby city of Incheon and the surrounding province of Gyeonggi, also reached an all-time high of 1,747 new cases, 72.3 percent of the total.

A record 903 new infections were detected in Seoul alone.

These figures come after the conclusion on Wednesday of a five-day holiday period for the Chuseok harvest festival, when millions travel to their hometowns to celebrate with their families.

Although South Korea is one of the countries that has best handled the pandemic so far with a total of 2,434 deaths and some 267,000 infections, the slow rate of vaccination due to a global supply shortage and the arrival of the highly contagious Delta variant have resulted in the country recording over 1,000 cases daily for more than 80 days.

Currently, 72.3 percent of the population has received one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 44 percent is fully vaccinated.

The government expects the number of fully vaccinated people to exceed 70 percent by the end of October.

The health authorities are set to announce a plan on Monday to begin vaccinating minors aged between 12 and 17 years and pregnant women in the last quarter of the year. EFE

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