The Latest: South Korea health minister urges vigilance

The Latest: South Korea health minister urges vigilance

SeattlePI.com

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The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

—South Korea health minister urges vigilance to keep gains against virus

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— Washington will return over 400 ventilators to be given to harder-hit states

— UN Secretary-General says domestic violence reports on rise during pandemic

— China reports 38 new coronavirus cases, all but one imported

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s vice health minister has urged vigilance to maintain hard-won gains against the new coronavirus.

Kim Gang-lip expressed concerns over loosened attitudes toward social distancing that he says puts the country at potential risk of an infection “explosion” similar to Europe and the United States.

His warning on Monday came after the country reported 47 new cases of the coronavirus, the smallest daily jump since Feb. 20. Infections have continued to wane in the worst-hit city of Daegu, where 6,781 of the country’s 10,284 cases have been reported.

However, there’s alarm over a steady rise in infections linked to international arrivals as students and other South Korean nationals flock back from the West amid broadening outbreaks and suspended school years. This has inflated the caseload in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live, prompting Gyeonggi province governor Lee Jae-myung to warn last week that an “explosion in infections is almost certain.”

“There’s still danger that an explosion in local transmissions which we have been...

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