S. Korea shuts Seoul nightspots, churches amid virus spike

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will ban large public gatherings and shut down churches and nightspots in the greater capital area amid an alarming surge in viral infections that health officials describe as the country’s biggest crisis since the emergence of COVID-19.

In a nationally televised announcement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said strengthening social distancing restrictions for the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to half of the country’s 51 million people, was inevitable because a failure to slow transmissions there could result in a major outbreak nationwide.

South Korea reported 246 new cases Tuesday, mostly from the capital area, pushing its total for the last five days to 959.

The measures, which will take effect Wednesday in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province and the city of Incheon, prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Nightclubs, karaoke rooms, buffet restaurants, computer gaming cafes and other “high-risk” venues will be shut. Churches will only be allowed to provide online services.

Chung or other government officials didn’t immediately say how long the measures would be in place.

“We are at a crucial moment where a failure to put (infections in the capital area) under control would quickly develop into a major outbreak nationwide,” Chung said. The government had resisted calls to strengthen social distancing measures for months, citing concerns about hurting an already fragile economy that policymakers say could shrink for the first time in two decades.

Churches have emerged as major clusters of infections, with many of them failing to requite the wearing of masks and allowing worshipers to sing in choirs or eat together.

Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea’s...