Local residents take an escalator in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 24, 2020. South Korea confirmed 231 more cases of the COVID-19 on Monday, raising the total number of infections to 833, and the death toll rose to eight. The country raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level on Sunday as the virus infections soared for the past week. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea confirmed 231 more cases of the COVID-19 on Monday, raising the total number of infections to 833, and the death toll rose to eight.
As of 4:00 p.m. local time (0700 GMT), the number of infected patients totaled 833, up 231 from the prior day. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has updated the data twice a day at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. local time.
The country raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level on Sunday as the virus infections soared for the past week. A total of 571 new cases were reported from Wednesday to Sunday.
Under the red alert, the health authorities recommended people with fever or respiratory symptoms to refrain from attending schools and going to work, asking pregnant women, the elderly and the chronically ill to avoid crowded places.
The education ministry on Sunday ordered all preschools, primary and secondary schools nationwide to delay the opening day of the first semester by one week to March 9.
The country's parliament canceled its plenary session earlier in the day after it was known that the floor leader of the main conservative opposition United Future Party and two other fellow lawmakers had contact with an infected patient at a forum last week and took a test for the virus early Monday.
Two clusters of infections in the country's southeastern region contributed the most to the recent viral spread.
Of the total patients, 681 were residents in Daegu, about 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province.
As of 9:00 a.m. local time, 458 cases were linked to the church services of a minor religious group, called Sincheonji, in Daegu. It was up from 329 in the previous day.
Out of 70 new cases added to the afternoon announcement, the link to the church services had yet to be known.
Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters that any failure to contain the virus infection in Daegu would raise the possibility for the virus to spread across the country, vowing to make all-out efforts to prevent the spread.
KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong told a press briefing that the focus would be placed on testing people with infection symptoms for the next two weeks, before the focus is to be moved on treatment for another two weeks.
The health authorities announced a plan to test for virus some 28,000 people in Daegu with flu symptoms and over 9,000 Sincheonji followers of the Daegu branch who attended the church services linked to the cluster infection.
For the past three days, the health authorities tested 4,500-5,000 suspected cases per day. The KCDC director noted that the number of tests, which can be conducted a day, could be increased to as many as 7,500.
The other 113 contagion cases were traced to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo county, just south of Daegu. Test for more than 650 patients and medical staff of the hospital was completed as almost all the patients at the psychiatric ward tested positive for the virus.
One more death was confirmed, raising the death toll to eight. Six of the deaths were linked to the hospital.
The government designated Deagu and Cheongdo as a "special care zone" on Friday, while protest rallies were banned in downtown areas of Seoul.
Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 32,000 people, among whom 20,292 tested negative for the COVID-19 virus and 11,631 were being checked.
Four more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recoveries, lifting the combined number to 22.
