Sharp Rise To 1,020 New Coronavirus Cases

Coronavirus cases rise sharply with additional infections from a Seoul prison and continued positive test results from medical facilities across South Korea.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reports 985 local infections and 35 infected international arrivals for a total of 1,020 new cases.That’s a sharp increase from 824 on Saturday and only 657 on Sunday. However, authorities say the weekend saw less testing due to the New Year’s holiday.Yonhap News reports the ban on private gatherings of more than four people, previously limited to the Seoul metro area, has now been extended to the entire country. There are also new restrictions on foreigners. The KDCA says starting Friday, foreign nationals flying to South Korea must have a negative coronavirus test result within 72 hours of their departure.More than 64,000 coronavirus cases have been diagnosed since the new virus first appeared in the ROK on January 20th, 2020. Nineteen people have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, for a total of 981 known deaths.Subscribe to Covid Korea Update with your favorite podcast app and find more news at KoreaFM.net.