Anchor: New COVID-19 cases in South Korea stood in the mid-600s Wednesday, amid continued reports of clusters across the country. Meanwhile, the government plans to introduce a new, eased social distancing scheme in July, when seniors are expected to have received at least their first round of vaccinations.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said as of 12:00 a.m. Wednesday, 635 additional people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the country's cumulative total to 128-thousand-918.

Five more people succumbed to the virus, putting the COVID death toll at one-thousand-884.

Out of the new cases, 613 were local infections with 22 from overseas. Some 69 percent of domestic cases, or 424, were reported in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Assessing that the spread of the virus is gradually slowing with the reproduction rate declining further below one for the fourth straight week, acting Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki still expressed concerns over the fact that 35 percent of all cases have no known infection route.

Hong said the government will consider adjusting business restrictions and the current ban on gatherings of five or more people should new cases drop under 500.

Yoon Tae-ho, a senior Health Ministry official, said a revised social distancing scheme will likely be implemented in July, when the first round of vaccinations for seniors is expected to be completed.

The Education Ministry plans to resume face-to-face in-class learning for all students and kindergartners starting in the fall semester, in line with the new distancing rules.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.