South Korea has attracted international attention because since the beginning of March, it has succeeded in stopping the corona virus and everyday life has begun to return to normal.

But now the authorities in the country fear that they will be hit by a second wave of infection. On Sunday, the country confirmed 35 new cases of covid-19, which is the highest figure in over a month.

Almost all cases, 29 of them, are linked to a one-year-old man who has visited several different nightclubs and bars in Seoul's premier nightclub district, Itaewon, Reuters reports.

2,400 tested

In total, around 7,200 people are expected to have moved in the area and the authorities have tested over 2,400 of them. The authorities also expect the number of infected to increase.

"We should quickly find the others and test them, the key is to do it quickly," says South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun.

As a result of the new cases, on Sunday it was possible to read "Temporarily closed" and "Preventive measures" at bars and nightclubs in Itaewon.

The school opening is delayed

The increase in new cases has also delayed the opening of schools in the country. The idea was that the upper secondary schools in the country should have opened on Wednesday, May 13, but that must now wait.

- We will take steps to protect our students and our highest priority is their safety. We urge the public to work together to ensure that students can study in a safe environment, says Deputy Education Minister Park Baek-beom.

A new opening date can now instead be May 20 for the final year students at the upper secondary school and May 27 for other high school students.

A total of more than 10,800 people in South Korea have been infected with covid-19, of whom 256 have died.