Coronavirus cases double in one day in South Korea

Addis Ababa, February 22, 2020 (FBC) -South Korea says the number of new coronavirus cases in the country has more than doubled in one day.

Officials said on Saturday that 229 new cases had been confirmed since Friday, raising the total to 433.

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said the outbreak had entered “a serious new phase”.

Many of the new cases are linked to a hospital and to a religious group near the south-eastern city of Daegu, authorities have said.

Two patients in South Korea have died so far and there are fears the number will rise.

The new virus, which originated last year in Hubei province in China, causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19.

Source: BBC