코로나19 신규 확진 266명 중 수도권 202명•••세자릿수 11일간 누적 3천명 육박
South Korea reported two-hundred-66 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.
This is the eleventh straight day the country has reported increases in the triple digits.
During that period, in total, there have been nearly three thousand.
Choi Jeong-yoon has more.
South Korea continues to see a surge in COVID-19 infections,... on Monday reporting 266 new cases.
Though it's a decrease from the three-hundred or more seen on each of the last three days,... the daily increase has been in the triple digits for eleven days in a row.
During that period, the total number of cases has reached almost 3-thousand.
"The infections right now are centered on the area near Seoul, but they're spreading nationwide through churches, gatherings, door-to-door sales as well as restaurants, cafes and workplaces."
Out of 258 local transmissions on Monday, more than two-hundred were in or near the capital.
Seoul on Monday saw 97 cases,... the most of any region.
Next highest was Gyeonggi-do Province with 84, while the city of Incheon reported twenty cases.
Among the cases in Seoul, about 37 percent had no clear origin.
That compares to about 22 percent in the past week... and at some points prior to the surge, almost none.
As for when it ends, the investment bank JP Morgan is predicting that this new wave will lead to around 7-thousand new cases,... reaching a peak at the end of this month before subsiding by early November.
By the end of the year, that would be a total of around 25-thousand.
A former director of KCDC says that's a realistic scenario.
"Seven thousand more cases by the end of the year is plausible. After autumn, there could be a sharp rise in the number of people with respiratory infections like cold and flu. That will make quarantine harder because they'll be mixed up with COVID-19 patients."
The report said the resurgence of cases is largely due to the easing of social distancing this summer as well as the mass resumption of economic activity.
Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News.
