South Korea has reported 169 more cases of the new coronavirus, mostly in the southeast city of Daegu and nearby areas, bringing its total number of infections to 1,146.
South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 134 of the new cases were confirmed in Daegu, where the government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the virus. Another 19 cases came from the neighboring North Gyeongsang Province towns.
The country has also reported 11 fatalities from the virus, mostly at a hospital in the county of Cheongdo, near Daegu, where a slew of infections was detected at a mental ward.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had called earlier for Americans to be prepared for the illness to spread there, adding new urgency to response efforts that had long focused on China and its Asian neighbors.
Chinese officials have reported a slowing in the number of new cases in recent days but it still has most of the world's 80,000 cases and 2,700 deaths.