Seoul: South Korea reported Thursday its first death from coronavirus while the mayor of a southeastern city urged his 2.5 million people to refrain from going outside as viral infections, linked to a church congregation, spiked.
The death of a previously confirmed patient in South Korea marked the world’s ninth virus fatality outside mainland China. Other deaths have occurred in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and France.
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said the man, believed to be around 63 years old, died at a hospital Wednesday and posthumously tested positive for the virus. It said authorities were investigating the exact cause of his death.
The centre also confirmed 22 additional cases people infected by coronavirus, raising the total in South Korea to 104.
Earlier Thursday, the mayor of Daegu urged its 2.5 million people to stay home and wear masks even indoors if possible, after the southeastern city and its nearby towns reported 35 additional cases of infection with coronavirus. The 35 cases didn’t include the additional 22 that were reported later Thursday.
In a nationally televised news conference, Mayor Kwon Young-jin also expressed fears that the rising infections in the region will soon overwhelm the city’s health infrastructure and called for urgent help from the central government in Seoul.
“National quarantine efforts that are currently focused on blocking the inflow of the virus (from China) and stemming its spread are inadequate for preventing the illness from circulating in local communities,” Kwon said.
A government health official said 28 of those 35 new patients went to church services attended by a previously confirmed virus patient or contacted her at other places inside a Daegu church. She is a woman in her early 60s who has no recent record of overseas travel.
AP
