코로나 확진 110명…부산 요양병원 집단감염 및 지인, 가족 모임 영향<br /><br />Shifting our focus now to the coronavirus tally.<br />Daily case numbers in South Korea rebounded to triple digits today at 1-hundred-and-ten.<br />The uptick is attributed largely to a cluster infection linked to a nursing hospital in Busan.<br />Health officials here plan to ramp up the number of tests at nursing homes to prevent these high-risk venues from emergeing as new Covid hotspots.<br />Lee Kyung-eun with the details.<br />South Korea reported 1-hundred-10 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.<br />In the past two weeks, the daily numbers have been hovering around the one hundred mark.<br />And Thursday's tally puts the figure into triple digits for the third time this month.<br />The recent spike comes from a series of cluster infections, including a major one in the country's second largest city of Busan.<br />At a nursing home in the city, 53 patients have been confirmed with the virus,...two of whom have died.<br />Health authorities have quickly responded, making special inspections of the city's nursing homes,... while conducting emergency testing on some of those facilities near the center of the cluster infection.<br />And as a preemptive measure for the high-risk capital region, the government is set to test some 160-thousand people linked to nursing homes and related facilities.<br />"We are planning to expand those preemptive tests to other high-risk facilities too, in cooperation with local governments."<br />In the meantime, the country is grappling with the lingering effects of last month's thanksgiving holiday.<br />A total of 16 clusters with some 3-hundred patients have been reported,... but there's a clear trend.<br />"The outbreaks are at a controllable level, but it's mostly spreading through small gatherings of friends and family members. 8 cases of the 16 were such cases,... through events like dining or drinking together."<br />And that pattern has continued into some of the most recent outbreaks.<br />Including one that began at a gathering of friends in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province,... and later spread to Seoul and Yangyang County.<br />A total of 16 people caught the virus from this cross-city cluster.<br />And from another such group infection from a pub in Incheon, 13 people tested positive.<br />The government warns the number of cases could grow... due to the recent relaxation of restrictions.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
