South Korea Reports 76 New COVID-19 Cases, 9 Deaths in Past 24 Hours

SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) South Korea confirmed 76 new cases of the coronavirus and nine related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nation's total to over 9,037 cases with 120 deaths, the Korean Center for Disease Control (KCDC) said Tuesday.

"As of 0:00, 24 March 2020 [15:00 GMT on March 23], the total number of confirmed cases is 9,037 (including 171 imported cases), of which 3,507 cases have been discharged from isolation. Newly confirmed cases are 76 in total," the centers said in a regular press release.

This is a far cry from late February and early March when hundreds of new cases were reported daily with dozens dead as a result, showing South Korea has managed to significantly slow the spread of COVID-19.

Thirty-one new cases were detected in the worst-hit city of Daegu, four in capital city of Seoul, and 20 in the country's airports.

Meanwhile, the Yonhap news agency reported that the nation's COVID-19 death toll had risen to 124.

A strict stay-at-home order remains in place in most of the country, while Daegu and part of the North Gyeongsang province where it is located are still designated as special disaster zones.

South Korea briefly became the worst-affected country with coronavirus outside China but quickly imposed strict measures and began wide-spread testing of citizens.

With over 300,000 tests in total, the country currently has one of the highest per capita rates in the world.