South Korea has confirmed its first cases of a more contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in the UK.
The Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Monday the cases were confirmed in a family of three who arrived in South Korea on December 22.
Workers wearing protective gears disinfect chairs as a precaution against the coronavirus at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Monday 28 December 2020. South Korea has confirmed its first cases of a more contagious variant of COVID. 19 first identified in the United Kingdom. (Kim Sun-woong / Newsis via AP)
They arrived a day before South Korea suspended air travel from Britain until December 31 to guard against the new version of the virus.
EARTHQUAKE IN SOUTH KOREA POSSIBLY CONNECTED WITH VENTILATION APARTMENT
The three people living in the UK are under quarantine in South Korea.
South Korea on Monday registered 808 new cases of coronavirus, increasing the national case load to 57,680 with 819 deaths. This is the second day in a row that South Korea’s daily score is below 1,000. The country recorded 1,241 cases on Christmas Day, the largest daily jump in South Korea since the pandemic began, and 1,132 on Saturday.
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Over the past few weeks, South Korea has struggled with a sudden increase in infections linked to hospitals, nursing homes, churches, a prison, family gatherings and several other sites. The government said on Sunday it would spend another week deciding whether to enforce its strictest physical distance rules in the greater Seoul area.