New infection cases at 1-week low on fewer tests, potential surge woes growing further

Seoul (South Korea), March 15: South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back to below 400 for the first time in a week on Monday as the number of people taking virus tests decreased over the weekend, but health authorities warned that the virus curve is set to follow an upward cycle amid warm weather and an increase in nontraceable cases.
The country reported 382 more COVID-19 cases, including 370 local infections, raising the total caseload to 96,107, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The figure was sharply down from 459 on Sunday. The daily new cases stood above 400 over the past week due to sporadic cluster infections and an increase in people traveling amid warmer weather.
Amid no clear signs of letup, the country extended current social distancing measures for another two weeks until March 28.
Since mid-Feb., the greater Seoul area has been under Level 2, the third highest in a five-tier system, with other areas under Level 1.5.
Authorities eased some restrictions on restaurants and other public facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area, allowing them to operate for one more hour until 10 p.m. But they retained a ban on gatherings of five or more people.
Since the start of the country's vaccination campaign on Feb. 26, a total of 588,958 people, including 1,074 the previous day, have been inoculated.
AstraZeneca's vaccine accounted for 562,816, while Pfizer's took up 26,142.
With those aged 65 and older given priority, the general public will be vaccinated from April.
The country aims to create herd immunity by November. Health authorities will announce a detailed vaccination plan for the second quarter of this year later in the day.
A total of 8,347 cases of side effects after vaccinations have been reported so far, although 8,248 of them were mild symptoms.
Two more suspected cases of anaphylactoid reaction, which has similar symptoms to anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction after immunization, have been reported, raising the total of such cases to 76.
A total of 16 deaths after vaccination have been reported so far, according to the KCDC.
Of the 370 locally transmitted cases, 112 came from Seoul and 161 were reported from Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, 40 km west of Seoul, reported 18 more cases. The three areas account for around half of the nation's population.
The number of imported cases came to 12, down from 23 the previous day. They included four from the United States and two from Pakistan.
The country added six more deaths, raising the total to 1,675. The number of patients with serious symptoms across the country reached 99, down from the previous day.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries moved up 346 to 87,754.
Source: Yonhap