SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2020) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday declared the city of Daegu in the North Gyeongsang province, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, and some areas adjoining it as special disaster zones, the presidential press office has said.
"Today at 02:10 p.m. [05:10 GMT], President Moon Jae-in declared Daegu and some regions in the North Gyeongsang province as special disaster zones," Presidential Spokesman Kang Min-seok told reporters.
The other affected regions of the province include the city of Gyeongsan and the counties of Cheongdo and Bonghwa.
According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, given that Daegu has registered about 77 percent of the total COVID-19 cases in the country, the declaration will allow the national government to allocate funds from the state budget to cover 50 percent of the expenditures needed for damage recovery.
Daegu became the site of the COVID-19 outbreak as the disease quickly spread among members of the local Christian sect Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which caused a spike in infection cases.
So far, over 8,000 people in South Korea contracted the disease and more than 70 of them died.
