<Anchor> With the number of



additional confirmed cases exceeding 1,000 for a week, it was tentatively counted as close to 1,300 as of 6 p.m. just before today (13th) as of 6:00 pm. If this trend continues, the highest number of patients ever recorded is expected to be announced tomorrow. A bigger concern is that the number of confirmed cases is increasing not only in the metropolitan area but also in the whole country and other regions at the same time.



First news, reporter Jang Se-man.



<Reporter> In



Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, cases of transmission from the metropolitan area were confirmed one after another.



An employee of a company in Gyeonggi-do came down to Yeosu before being diagnosed with the virus and contacted 9 people, of which 8 were confirmed.



The number of confirmed cases in the metropolitan area, which soared to 994 last week, fell to 700 for two days in a row.



On the other hand, the proportion of non-metropolitan areas has risen for the fifth consecutive day and is close to 30%.



[Kim Hee-gyeom / Head of Disaster Safety Management Division, Ministry of Public Administration and Security: Non-metropolitan areas are also very concerned. Please actively implement preemptive quarantine measures such as strengthening screening for



symptomatic patients

.]

Infection patterns in the metropolitan area may be reproduced in non-metropolitan areas.



First of all, the rate of propagation between groups is very fast.



In the case where restaurants in Mapo-gu, Seoul and English language schools in the metropolitan area were linked, cluster infections occurred in up to 9 places as confirmed patients gathered and scattered in narrow and poorly ventilated pubs and lecture rooms.



Among those in their 20s and 40s in the metropolitan area, there were many infections of the same age group.



That is why socializing with colleagues, friends, and acquaintances is leading to the spread of infection.



[Lee Sang-won / Head of Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team, Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters: This infection pattern was mainly spread through contact and gatherings between acquaintances and colleagues, and one epidemic re-spreaded to another (suggesting a trend)]



This afternoon As of 6 p.m., there were 1,288 confirmed cases.



The metropolitan area, including 563 in Seoul, again surpassed 1,000.



If the number increases by more than 90 overnight, it will exceed the maximum number of confirmed cases of the past 10 days of 1,378.



The quarantine authorities are planning to announce the regional distancing steps and regulations on private gatherings in the non-metropolitan area tomorrow, but following the 4th step in the metropolitan area, it seems highly likely that the non-metropolitan area will also raise the distance.



(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, video editing: Park Ji-in)