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Today (19th), the number of newly confirmed coronaviruses is expected to be around 600. It has increased again from yesterday. When I looked at the indicators for the number of confirmed cases that are released every day, the situation is just anxious. The number of cases of'major mutant virus' infection, which is known to have high transmission power, has exceeded 1,000 so far, and the'individual infection rate', which is difficult to control, has been the highest since last August.



This is Nam Joo-hyun.



<Reporter> This



is a singing practice center in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.



On the 11th, one employee at the singing practice center was confirmed, and since then, 40 additional persons, including workers and visitors, have been confirmed at 13 nearby karaoke rooms, including this one.



[Song Eun-cheol/Seoul City Infectious Disease Control Division Manager: (Some workers) have been found to have worked continuously even after the onset of symptoms. Visitors are also advised to wear a mask when singing.]



Small group infections are also worrisome, but the bigger problem is individual contact infections that spread throughout the day.



The proportion of individual infections that are infected by various contact with each confirmed person, not by specific places and groups, has risen to 46%, the highest since last August.



Many have been family-to-family infections.



[Lee Sang-won/Director of Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis, Central Defense Countermeasures Headquarters: I am wary because it can be interpreted as a sign that the density of patients has increased a little in the local community. We urge you to be careful about infections between families.]



Over the past week, the number of mutant viruses increased by 247, exceeding the cumulative 1,000.



The number of mutations from India that the World Health Organization added to the major mutations in the'concern' stage also increased by 29 to 87.



In Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, 6 out of 7 family members were confirmed on the 10th, and only one grandfather in their 70s who completed the first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine was not infected.