South Korea reported 79 additional cases of new coronavirus on Thursday, the biggest jump in nearly two months due to infections linked to a logistics center operated by ecommerce firm Coupang.

According to regular briefing by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the number of daily new coronavirus cases reached 79 as of midnight on Wednesday, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 11,344. It is the first time for the number of new cases to reach above 70 since 81 on April 5.

The renewed spread is connected to fulfillment centers run by the country’s ecommerce leader Coupang. A 43-year-old woman working at the logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, was tested positive on May 23 after visiting a first-year birthday party in the same city where also a photographer who was hired to take photos of the event was also infected. The photographer, who also works as a taxi driver, is seen as having been infected after carrying a passenger who contacted a hagwon or academy teacher that visited Itaewon in Seoul in May.

Itaewon, a multicultural neighborhood in central Seoul, emerged as a new cluster for coronavirus after a young man tested positive for COVID-19. He visited many bars and clubs in the area.

It is the first time for the daily new coronavirus infection cases to touch above 50 since 53 on April 8 after the government shifted from month-long “social distancing” to a more relaxed “everyday life quarantine.”

The government earlier said the number of new daily cases should be fewer than 50 to maintain everyday life quarantine policy.

Of 79 new coronavirus cases, 72 were domestic infections, the KCDC said, and 7 were detected through quarantine inspection. By region, 67 were from the Seoul and surrounding areas – 24 from Seoul, 22 from Incheon, and 21 from Gyeonggi Province. Two new cases were reported from Daegu and one each from Busan, South Chungcheong, and North Gyeongsang.

According to KCDC, the number of deaths from the virus remained unchanged at 269 on Thursday.

Health authorities warned that the number of new coronavirus cases is expected to grow, give the rise in cluster spread. New cases were reported from another logistics center run by ecommerce platform Market Kurly in Songpa District in Seoul and a large-scale call center in Bucheon, home to 1,600 workers.

By Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]