Virus spike in South Korean capital area

(16 Aug 2020) South Korea on Sunday reported 279 new confirmed coronavirus cases, its highest daily jump since early March, as fears grow about an outbreak in the greater capital region. The figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) brought the national caseload to 15,318, including 305 deaths. "As a pianist with a show around the corner, I am concerned as to whether the show will to be canceled," said Cho Joo Youn. "I hope this goes away quickly without affecting the industry." Sunday marked the highest number of new cases since March 8, when 367 were reported. At that time, the country was concentrating public health tools and personnel nationwide to combat an outbreak in the less populated southern region. The KCDC said 253 of the new confirmed cases came from the Seoul metropolitan area, home to 26 million people, where health authorities have been struggling to stem transmissions linked to churches, nursing homes, schools, restaurants and door-to-door salespeople. Infections were also reported in other major cities such as Busan and Daegu, the epicenter of the country’s previous virus crisis in late February and March when hundreds of new cases were reported each day. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...