Tokyo, Seoul reports daily COVID-19 cases

South Korea, which relaxed social distance rules last month, on Wednesday registered 313 new cases, the highest since August.

“Epidemics now occur simultaneously in every corner of our society, with real life situations, unlike in the past, when there were big explosions from a particular place or group,” Kang said.

From Thursday, the country will ban gatherings of 100 or more people, limit religious services and spectators to 30 percent capacity at sporting events, and require high-risk facilities, including clubs and karaoke bars, to expand the distance between guests.

In Tokyo, the number of new daily cases reached 493. The Tokyo government is considering raising its infection alert to four levels early Thursday morning, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Chief Government Spokesperson Katsunobu Kato said officials will meet to discuss raising the alert level, as infectious conditions vary as different parts of the country require different measures.

“Last week the Tokyo metropolitan government’s monitoring meeting recognized that this was the beginning of a rapid spread of the epidemic, a serious situation that requires serious awareness,” he said.

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New cases rose to 38,617 in India, although epidemics have been declining since the September peak, but more than 20 million cities are on the rise in the capital, New Delhi, where markets rallied for Diwali last week.

City officials are making plans to re-establish certain restrictions, such as the locking of some markets, and seek federal permission to further reduce the number of guests at large events such as weddings.

Taiwan also announced new measures, with two imported cases reported on Wednesday. The country will force the overuse of masks and almost all people entering the island will have to undergo a negative COVID test.

Reuters