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KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong during a COVID-19 response meeting at the Government Complex in Sejong on Sept. 2. (Yonhap News)

“The explosive increase in the virus is being suppressed. Our top priority is bringing the scale of the outbreak down to below 100 [new cases per day] so that it’s a level the disease control network and healthcare system can cope with.”

Speaking at a regular briefing on Sept. 2, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jung Eun-kyeong said, “We’re at a crossroads this week in terms of whether we can stabilize the second outbreak or whether it will grow further.”

“We plead with the public to participate in disease control efforts,” she added. The number of new confirmed cases of the virus that day stood at 267, marking a fourth straight day with cases in the 200 to 300 range. Disease control authorities believe that the number of new confirmed cases per day needs to be brought down to double digits because the situation reaches a “controllable level.”

“We’re seeing cases with unclear transmission routes, and with the outbreak still continuing from exposures one to two weeks ago, we are not expecting [the number of new confirmed cases] to decline rapidly,” Jung said.

“We’re expecting a general trend of decline with repeated rises and falls,” she explained.

As for causes behind the major resurgence of the virus in August, disease control authorities pointed to local infections involving asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients among the cumulative patients diagnosed since May; the rise in indoor activity and air conditioner use and the inability to properly ventilate amid an unusually long monsoon season; an increase in gatherings and travel activities amid the school vacation and summer holiday season; and transmission through Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul’s Seongbuk District and a political rally in Seoul on Aug. 15. While the social distancing level has been upgraded, small-scale infection clusters have continued to arise. As of 12 pm on Sept. 2, the cumulative number of patients associated with the Suseo No. 1 apartment complex in Seoul’s Gangnam District had risen to six, according to the KCDC.

The first confirmed cases involved a security worker and resident of the apartment, both of whom work or live in different blocks -- a different situation from another apartment complex in Seoul’s Guro District where the virus spread last month among residents using the same elevator. Additional confirmed cases were associated with Hyemin Hospital in Seoul’s Gwangjin District (10 to date), the Peniel Prayer Room in Seoul’s Nowon District (eight), the Carewill nursing home in Seoul’s Seongbuk District (seven), and a prayer group in Incheon’s Gyeyang District (21).

By Park Da-hae and Seo Hye-mi, staff reporters

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