Coronavirus: South Korea logs record infections; Indonesia’s daily deaths top 1,000

Just 10 per cent of South Korea’s population of 52 million have been fully vaccinated, while 30 per cent have received at least one shot

Meanwhile, the lead scientist on China’s Sinovac vaccine trials in Indonesia died of suspected Covid-19, and cases surged in Australia’s New South Wales

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People queue for Covid-19 testing in Seoul. South Korea on Thursday confirmed more than 1,000 new cases for the second day in a row. Photo: AP

Published: 12:45pm, 8 Jul 2021Updated: 10:58pm, 8 Jul 2021

South Korea on Thursday reported its highest ever one-day rise in new Covid-19 cases, as officials consider imposing a semi-lockdown in the capital Seoul, the epicentre of the country’s recent rise in infections.

The 1,275 cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Wednesday, reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, exceeds the number of daily cases reported at the peak of the country’s third wave in December.

Around 80 per cent of the 1,275 locally transmitted cases were recorded in the greater Seoul area, comprising the capital, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon city, official data showed.

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a member of the public at a Covid-19 testing station in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Health authorities said Seoul would meet the criteria for imposing Level 4 social distancing measures with a three-day streak of new case numbers above 389, the daily average from July 1-8.

Given the city recorded 545 new cases on Wednesday and 577 on Tuesday, that requirement could be reached with Thursday’s numbers, which will be announced on Friday.

“We continue to review pre-emptive responses for the metropolitan Seoul area,” Yonhap news agency quotes health ministry official Son Young-rae as telling reporters.