코로나19 어제 594명 신규확진, 여전히 600명 안팎…지역 566명<br /><br />South Korea recorded slightly under 600 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but health authorities say it could take some time for numbers to drop significantly.<br />Meanwhile, level two-point-five social distancing measures are now in effect across the capital region.<br />Han Seong-woo has the details.<br />South Korea added 594 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, following two days in the six-hundreds.<br />566 of the cases were locally transmitted with Seoul and the surrounding area accounting for nearly 400 cases.<br />These include new cluster infections at five card-playing pubs in Itaewon.<br />Outside the capital region, Ulsan has the largest share of new patients with 61 as the city continues to see cases from a recent outbreak at a nursing hospital.<br />With level two-point-five social distancing for the capital area and level two for other regions now in effect, many businesses have closed as the government struggles to contain the virus.<br />But health authorities say it may take quite some time before numbers drop significantly.<br />A particular cause of concern are infections with unidentified transmission routes.<br />According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, 26 percent of the new cases are untraceable.<br />Out of all the people tested in December, around 4 percent have tested positive.<br />South Korea has now had a total of just under 39-thousand cases.<br />The number of critically ill patients has increased by eight to 134 and there have been three more fatalities, bringing the death toll to 552.<br />Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.<br />
