COVID-19 death toll rises to 10 in South Korea as number of cases grow to 977

According to a report of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention (KCDC), the deceased person was a male patient of Daenam  Hospital in Cheongdo born in 1962, adding that medics are still looking  into the concrete cause of death.

The KCDC’s report indicates that 44  new cases have been registered in the city of Daegu, the center of the  country’s outbreak, another 23 in the neighboring North Gyeongsang  Province, while the rest are from various regions across the country,  including four cases in Seoul.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported earlier in the day that the  nation’s arts troupes, galleries, theaters and other institutions, as  well as foreign singers such as UK’s MIKA and US’s Khalid were  postponing or canceling planned concerts, exhibitions, performances and  cultural events amid the outbreak of the deadly virus.

The Shincheonji Church of Jesus sect’s branch in the city of Daegu has  been identified as a hotbed for the COVID-19 respiratory disease in  South Korea.

Thousands of its followers have been told to self-isolate.  The chain reaction allegedly began with a 61-year old parishioner from  Daegu, who refused to be tested for the virus as she had never visited  China in the past.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and  has since spread to more than 25 other countries, prompting the World  Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.