<Anchor>
Despite the intense social distancing, the momentum of the corona virus has not been dampened. Following the highest number of confirmed cases in history as of yesterday (9th) Monday, the number of patients tentatively counted by 6 pm today has already approached 1,800. If this trend continues, there is a possibility that the number of confirmed cases to be announced tomorrow will exceed 2,000 for the first time. Health officials have urged people to reduce contact and gatherings with other people as much as possible, even during vacations.
First news, this is reporter Park Soo-jin.
<Reporter> This
is a large supermarket in Guro-gu, Seoul.
After one employee of the underground food hall was confirmed on the 6th, nine additional people tested positive. Two visitors were also included.
As the number of tested visitors has reached 43,000, the number of confirmed cases may increase further.
Although the 4th level in the metropolitan area and 3rd level or higher in the non-metropolitan area have been extended, the weekly daily average number of confirmed cases has continued to increase since July.
In particular, as a result of the tally at 6 pm today, the number of confirmed cases nationwide has approached 1,800.
It is highly likely that we will hit the 2,000 mark for the first time tomorrow.
As the number of family and acquaintance gatherings increases during the holiday season, the rate of infection by contact with a confirmed person or overlapping with a confirmed person's movement has also exceeded 4% for the first time.
[Park Hyang/Chief of Quarantine Prevention Team: The number of close contacts, vacations, and the number of confirmed cases through contact with family members or acquaintances is increasing.]
In particular, the spread of non-metropolitan areas is not slowing down.
The proportion of non-metropolitan areas among the total number of confirmed cases was 44.6%, the highest again.
The infection reproduction index, which shows how many people a confirmed person infects, was also reduced from the previous week to 0.99 in the national standard, while in non-metropolitan areas, it is spreading, exceeding 1.
Meanwhile, as a result of the epidemiological investigation of the group infection of the Cheonghae Unit, the quarantine authorities estimated that the infection started when it docked in a neighboring country in the Gulf of Guinea between June 28 and July 1.
However, the specific infection route and cause could not be identified.
(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Kim Jong-tae, CG: Ryu Sang-su, Han Jung-woo, VJ: Shin So-young)