The reproduction rate of the novel coronavirus is rising in the country, reaching up to one-point-three percent for the greater capital region.  

Lee Sang-won, a senior official of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), said during a Thursday briefing that the so-called “R number” for the whole nation currently stands at between one-point-21 and one-point-29 and that for the Seoul metropolitan area between one-point-25 and one-point-three. 

The reproduction rate refers to the number of new infections caused by a single patient, with a figure above one indicating the disease is spreading.

The KDCA predicted that if the virus continues to spread at the current pace, the nation will see around one-thousand-400 daily cases at the end of this month. 

Authorities plan to secure more hospital beds in order to deal with a possible surge in the number of serious COVID-19 patients in the capital region.  As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, two-thousand-242 hospital beds, or about 34 percent of the sickbeds nationwide accommodating COVID-19 patients, remained available.