At least 116 people in South Korea who had recovered from coronavirus have tested positive again, officials reported Monday, sparking new fears of the contagious virus reactivating in some patients.
The country has called for people to continue lockdown and social distancing measures until at least April 19, but government officials will soon be reevaluating the timeline for when to ease restrictions.
“Later this week, we plan to review our intensive social distancing campaign that we have carried out so far and discuss whether we will switch to routine safety measures,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Monday.
He warned that the country needs “a very cautious approach because any premature easing of social distancing could bring irreversible consequences, and have to ponder deeply about when and how we switch to the new system.”
While the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea has dropped significantly and continues to show declines, officials with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) are investigating the cause of what has been called a “reactivation” in some patients after having recovered from the virus.
South Korea has reported 10,537 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, 217 deaths and 7,447 recoveries. The nation has a population of 51.6 million.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.