SEOUL– New COVID-19 cases among foreign nationals residing in South Korea increased about 20 percent last week from the previous week, health authorities said Tuesday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 1,665 non-Korean residents were diagnosed with the coronavirus during the third week of August, accounting for 13.6 percent of all new cases during the period.
The number marked a 20.7 percent increased from the 1,379 cases reported the previous week, during which foreigners made up 11.1 percent of new infections.
The percentage is higher than the proportion of foreign population in the country, which comes to 3.8 percent.
Of the total cases among foreigners last week, 1,171, or 70.3 percent, occurred in the greater Seoul area. In the central city of Sejong, 16 foreigners tested positive, representing 35.6 percent of the total cases in the city last week.
“The spread of infections among foreigners is so serious that in some areas 1 out of 3 newly confirmed cases are foreigners,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said.
He instructed virus testing to be expanded in areas and workplaces with many foreigners.
The KDCA urged all foreign residents, including unregistered people, to actively get tested, noting the testing is conducted for free and without visa confirmation.
Source: Yonhap News Agency