A 'second wave' of COVID-19 hits South Korea sooner than expected


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
South Korean officials say the country is experiencing a "second wave" of COVID-19, which came sooner than anticipated.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Monday said a second wave of coronavirus infections in the Seoul area began in early May following a holiday weekend, Reuters reports.
"In the metropolitan area, we believe that the first wave was from March to April as well as February to March," Jeong said. "Then we see that the second wave which was triggered by the May holiday has been going on."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Jeong noted that South Korea's prediction that a second wave of COVID-19 would emerge in the fall or the winter "turned out to be wrong," adding, "as long as people have close contact with others, we believe that infections will continue."
Daily new cases of COVID-19 in South Korea fell to less than 10 in April. But "just as the country announced it would be easing social distancing guidelines in early May, new cases spiked, driven in part by infections among young people who visited nightclubs and bars in Seoul over the holiday weekend," Reuters writes, noting that South Korea just reported 17 new cases after confirming 48 the day before. The country has reported more than 12,000 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.
At the end of May, more than 200 schools in South Korea closed after new cases spiked, and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon now says that strict social distancing measures may have to be put into effect again, BBC News reports. The Seoul mayor is also warning, per The Washington Post, that the R-number indicating how many people someone with COVID-19 spreads the virus to has risen and that if it "stays at the figure seen 10 days ago, daily new infections are expected to reach around 800 a month later."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.
-
Government shutdown avoided as Congress passes temporary funding bill
Speed Read The bill will fund the government through Nov. 17
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Today's political cartoons — September 30, 2023
Saturday's cartoons - Trump's poll numbers, the Hunter Biden investigation, and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 30, 2023
Daily Briefing Government shutdown looms after failed House vote, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at 90, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
FDA to re-evaluate effectiveness of common nasal congestion ingredient
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
A flesh-eating bacteria is growing in numbers due to climate change
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
CDC recommends new RSV vaccine for infants under 8 months
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
U.S. health agency advises easing federal marijuana restrictions
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Medicare drug price negotiations start with 1st 10 drugs, pharmaceutical industry lawsuits
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Air pollution may be increasing antibiotic resistance, new research suggests
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Tick bites could cause an allergy to red meat, CDC says
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
The danger of drinking too much water
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published