New infections above 400 for 2nd day amid loosened vigilance

Health authorities remain on alert as people increasingly go out and enjoy the warm weather and the mayoral by-elections for the capital Seoul and the southern port city of Busan are scheduled on April 7, Yonhap reports.
The country reported 430 more COVID-19 cases, including 419 local infections, raising the total caseload to 100,276, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The country added two more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,709. The fatality rate was 1.7 percent, the KDCA said.
Daily infections rebounded to 428 Wednesday after falling to 346 on Tuesday. The daily caseload has
As of 6 p.m. on Thursday, the country reported 382 new cases, up 55 from the same time on Wednesday. Of the total, 278 cases, or 72.8 percent, were reported in the greater Seoul area, including 158 in Gyeonggi Province and 101 in the capital.
To curb the pandemic in the greater Seoul area, which is home to roughly half of the country's 52 million population, the KDCA extended virus curbs, the third highest in the five-tier virus restriction that were set to expire on March 14 for another two weeks until March 28.
Health authorities said they will decide Friday whether to again extend the current virus curbs by another two weeks but given the current situation, the measures are highly likely to be extended.
The greater Seoul area has been under the Level 2 social distancing measures since February. The measures include attendance caps at schools, religious activities and sports events.
Health authorities plan to step up the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rollout after confirming that there is no evidence of a correlation between the vaccines and blood clots found in some recipients.
The use of the vaccine for elderly citizens was suspended for weeks as safety concerns arose after reports of blood clots in people who received AstraZeneca products in Europe, forcing more than a dozen European countries, including Germany, France and Italy, to suspend the vaccine shots.
The country's COVID-19 vaccine rollout is expected to gather pace as AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots for elderly citizens aged 65 and older started Tuesday. Health authorities assessed there is no evidence suggesting a correlation between the vaccines and blood clots found in some recipients.
The country started administering the second Pfizer shots on Saturday.
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