Coronavirus: South Korea urges caution as scenic spots packed amid dwindling case numbers

Images of crowded parks and long traffic jams en route to scenic spots at the weekend have prompted health authorities to warn of a resurgence in cases

A continued rise in cases in the densely populated capital of Seoul and its surrounding areas in particular has alarmed health experts

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A family wearing face masks use binoculars to look across South Korea’s border with the North at Imjingak in Paju last week. Photo: AP

Published: 2:09pm, 6 Apr 2020Updated: 7:57pm, 6 Apr 2020

As South Korea on Monday reported its lowest number of new infections since February, the government urged citizens weary of weeks of staying at home not to let down their guard with the arrival of spring’s warmer weather.

New infections have been on the decline in recent days – the country reported fewer than 50 cases on Monday for the first time since February 29 – but images of crowded parks and long traffic jams en route to scenic spots at the weekend prompted health authorities to raise the alarm that the virus may come back with vengeance if people do not follow social distancing advice.

South Korea has been widely praised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with the country managing to bring the number of new cases down to fewer than 100 per day for more than three weeks now without resorting to hardline measures such as lockdowns seen in other places. Most citizens also now have access to face masks following earlier shortages.

But clusters of infections linked to churches and hospitals, new cases coming from overseas, and a continued rise in cases in the densely populated capital, Seoul, and its surrounding areas – home to half the country’s population – have alarmed health experts.

A young couple wearing face masks walk beneath blossom trees in the Yeouido district of Seoul on Sunday. Photo: AFP

“I don’t like to imagine it but if the virus spreads widely in the capital area, the crisis many European countries are now going through could happen to us as well”, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Monday, at a meeting of the country’s disaster response task force as another two-week social distancing policy came into effect.

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