Cluster infections at Seoul hospital linked to 17 coronavirus cases

연세 세브란스 병원 17명 추가확진... 국내 코로나 아직 안심할 때 아냐155. That's the number of new Covid-19 cases reported in South Korea today... staying below 200 for the eighth day in row. It's a significant drop from the 441 that we saw just two weeks ago, but health authorities here aren't yet comfortable with the number as one, it's taking longer to reduce the number to double digits and two, due to persistent outbreaks of cluster infections - the latest being one at one of Seoul's major hospitals.Kim Yeon-seung reports.South Korea on Wednesday reported one-hundred-55 new cases of COVID-19, almost all of them transmitted locally.Of those, almost a third were in Seoul.The daily number has been below two hundred for eight consecutive days, but officials have found new cause for concern.New cluster infections at Yonsei Severance Hospital have been linked to 17 cases, which will be reflected in the tally for Friday.There are two cluster infections in the hospital simultaneously,... one in the rehabilitation ward and the other among employees working for a company that provides hospital meals.This has prompted the hospital to close the affected ward and to temporarily stop offering outpatient care.But most of all, these cluster infection are concerning because of where they are."When the public is deprived of access to medical services, it is very critical because the public is losing basic medical services, and it worsens the resilience of the public during this pandemic."Officials are warning that now is not the time for complacency.Even though the number of infections is coming down overall, there have been slight increases day to day.Also, there's been a slight increase in the number of cases that are untraceable."In the capital region, only Incheon is showing a definite trend of decline. But it's hard to say the same for Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, so we're keeping a close eye on them."The official also said that the virus can only be contained by social distancing, limiting activity outdoors and wearing masks.If everyone focuses on practicing social distancing in the last for days of this week, he said, then the downtrend in cases will become clearer.Kim Yeon-seung, Arirang News.