South Korea is taking emergency measures today, confirming a total of 204 cases of nCoV, most of which are from Daegu.

South Korea today has detected 104 more cases of corona virus, bringing the total number of infected people to nearly double within 24 hours. The country is currently home to the third largest number of infected people in the world, after China and Japan.

Three new cases of nCoV infection have been reported, including one army officer, one naval sailor, and one Korean air force officer. These are the first cases positive for corona virus in the country's military. All three have visited the city of Daegu, which saw a surge in cases this week.

Dozens of nCoV patients in Daegu were related to Shincheonji (Tan Thien Dia), the cult is becoming a focus because of the involvement of a "super-infectious" case, believed to have infected at least 43 people. . Tan Thien Dia has about 200,000 followers in the country.

President Moon Jae-in called the situation a serious situation and South Korean officials also predicted there would be more cases.

Jun Eun-kyeong, head of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said a survey of 4,500 believers recorded more than 500 people with symptoms similar to corona virus infection.

In a televised statement, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said the central government would focus its resources on the southeast to address the shortage of hospital beds, health workers and equipment. The city of Daegu in this area has been declared a "special management zone".

"One month after the outbreak of Covid-19, we have entered an emergency phase. Our efforts have now focused on preventing the disease from entering the country. However, we now will shift its focus to preventing the virus from spreading further in the local community, "Chung said.

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo ordered military officials to work closely with health authorities as well as strictly implement quarantine steps to prevent the virus from spreading in its forces. The ministry also requested restrictions for soldiers on holidays and meeting people from outside.

Daegu Mayor of Kwon Young-jin yesterday called for about 2.5 million people to stay home and wear a mask even when they are not going out. South Korea's defense ministry has banned soldiers from stationed in Daegu from leaving barracks and receiving guests.

The US military has imposed a similar ban on its military base in the city. Thousands of US soldiers, family members and civil servants have been restricted from traveling, and schools and kindergartens have been closed.

The streets of Daegu, the fourth largest city in Korea, today are as quiet as "ghost cities", when people try to avoid crowded places like markets or shopping centers. Many of the city's public facilities also stopped working. The New Heavenly Church closes the Daegu church for the first time and directs prayer services online, or worshipers pray at home.

In the capital, Seoul, 240 km from Daegu, people are wearing masks when traveling on the streets. While the city government has imposed a ban on public protests, many conservative groups have announced they will continue to take to the streets every week to protest against President Moon Jae-in.

Last week, the South Korean President even expressed confidence that the Covid-19 epidemic would soon be under control and called for efforts to revive the stagnant economy. However, the number of cases has grown exponentially in the country, raising concerns that the disease is spiraling out of control and spreading rapidly within the community.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said new cases in South Korea were mainly linked to reported cases and Seoul was closely monitoring the situation.

"The number of cases is actually manageable and I hope Korea will do everything it can to prevent an outbreak at this early stage," Tedros said.

The Covid-19 outbreak from Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has now appeared in 28 countries and territories around the world, making 76,202 people infected, 2,247 dead, 11 dead. because of the translation outside of mainland China, including Korea, Japan, France, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Iran.