South Korea confirms second wave of coronavirus spread

South Korea’s authorities confirmed that the second wave of the coronavirus infection’s spread was in progress in the country, Jeong Eun-kyeong, chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Monday.

"We originally predicted that the second wave to emerge in fall or winter," Yonhap News Agency quoted Jeong Eun-kyeong as saying. "Our forecast turned out to be wrong," she said.

The second wave of infections was caused by accidental outbreaks that engulfed Seoul in May, according to the KCDC.

In his turn, the mayor of South Korea’s capital, Park Won-soon, warned that restrictions could be toughened in the city and in the region if the number of daily cases exceeded 30 and the authorities faced a lack of hospital beds.

To date, South Korea has recorded 12,438 COVID-19 cases, and the death toll has hit 280. A total of 10,881 people have fully recovered from the coronavirus since the start of the epidemic.