South Korea is one of the hard-hit countries in Asia and it continues to struggle with containing cluster infections, while North Korea remains elusive on the extent of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Bulk of New Cases in S.Korea Linked to Logistics Center
Most of the 35 new coronavirus cases recorded in South Korea on Monday were still linked to the cluster in a Bucheon logistics center, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed.
The new cluster emerged as the Seoul government battled an earlier cluster in Itaewon's nightlife center. The logistics center cluster drove the country's daily spike in cases to 75 last week, marking a two-month high since recovery started.
As of Monday, at least 111 cases have been linked to the Coupang-owned e-commerce facility, while at least 270 confirmed COVID-19 infections have been linked to the Itaewon nightclubs cluster as of Sunday.
School Reopening Comes to a Halt
Due to the massive spike in new cases last week, South Korea's school reopening came to a stop. Hundreds of schools across the country shut down again just a few days after reopening.
In Bucheon alone, 251 schools closed doors again as part of the efforts to prevent infections among students coming back to school after the long break. In Seoul, 117 schools were closed, and later, a student whose mother worked at the logistics center, tested COVID-19 positive.
While some businesses have opened, museums and public parks across Seoul were also ordered to close as health authorities scramble to disinfect hotspots and implement widespread contact tracing.
South Korea now has a total of 11,503 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 271 deaths from the fast-spreading disease.
North Korea Urges Pick Up Purchases
North Korea's radio broadcaster, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station on Monday encouraged the public to patronize pick-up purchases and to-go orders as part of the efforts to prevent coronavirus spreading in the reclusive country.
The broadcaster went on to encourage North Koreans to make use of what the country refers to as "order service" wherein customers can place orders in advance as a means of avoiding going to public shops.
North Korea has yet to publicly log confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country. However, health experts believe there were hundreds of infections in the country as early as January.
Kim Jong Un Reportedly Demands Cash from Elites
Meanwhile, a new report revealed that North Korean President Kim Jong Un has demanded an increase in cash from the elite members of society in his country due to the coronavirus crisis and new sanctions from the United States.
Experts studying the country revealed that the government is reportedly planning a rare bond issuance that should raise foreign currency that should impact as much as 60 percent of the budget accumulated from moneyed North Koreans.
Analysts noted that if the bond issue comes at this time, it could tell so much about the country's struggles ever since the coronavirus pandemic started, along with sanctions it has been slapped with.
Pyongyang has yet to confirm the reports.
