South Korea reports case spike, US states tighten controls

BEIJING (AP) — South Korea on Saturday reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases for the first time in four months while South Africa announced a surge in infections and some U.S. states tightened anti-disease controls.

South Korea's 113 new cases included 36 workers returning from Iraq and 32 crew members of a Russian freighter, the government said. Authorities had warned to expect a spike in cases from abroad and appealed to the public not to be alarmed.

China, which has relaxed most of its anti-disease controls after case numbers dropped off, reported 34 new cases in a new surge of infections. That included 29 that were contracted within the country.

Worldwide, a total of 638,352 deaths and 15,672,841 cases have been reported, according to data compiled from government announcements by Johns Hopkins University.

South Africa, Africa's hardest-hit country, reported more than 13,104 new confirmed cases, raising its total to 408,052. The government has reported 6,093 deaths.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday schools will “take a break” for a month to protect children. Despite rising infections, restaurant and hospitality workers protested this week, demand a loosening of restrictions on their industries.

India, the country with the third-highest infection total behind the United States and Brazil, reported its death toll rose by 740 to 30,601. The government reported a surge of 49,310 new cases, raising its total to 1,287,945.

The Home Ministry issued an advisory Friday calling for Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 15 to avoid large gatherings.

In the United States, Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi tightened controls on bars to protect “young, drunk, careless folks.” Bars already were limited to operating at 50% capacity. Now, patrons will have...