코로나19 어제 594명 신규확진, 여전히 600명 안팎…지역 566명

South Korea recorded slightly under 600 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but health authorities say it could take some time for numbers to drop significantly.
Meanwhile, level two-point-five social distancing measures are now in effect across the capital region.
Han Seong-woo has the details.
South Korea added 594 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, following two days in the six-hundreds.
566 of the cases were locally transmitted with Seoul and the surrounding area accounting for nearly 400 cases.
These include new cluster infections at five card-playing pubs in Itaewon.
Outside the capital region, Ulsan has the largest share of new patients with 61 as the city continues to see cases from a recent outbreak at a nursing hospital.
With level two-point-five social distancing for the capital area and level two for other regions now in effect, many businesses have closed as the government struggles to contain the virus.
But health authorities say it may take quite some time before numbers drop significantly.
A particular cause of concern are infections with unidentified transmission routes.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, 26 percent of the new cases are untraceable.
Out of all the people tested in December, around 4 percent have tested positive.
South Korea has now had a total of just under 39-thousand cases.
The number of critically ill patients has increased by eight to 134 and there have been three more fatalities, bringing the death toll to 552.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.