With the coronavirus outbreak showing no sign of slowing down, the number of confirmed cases surged to 5,766 with 39 deaths as of Thursday morning. Most of them were reported from followers of the secretive Shincheonji sect, but there are several cases of group infections whose sources of transmission have not been identified yet. As testing of the virus among Shincheonji followers is almost complete, the further spread of the outbreak lies in stopping such group infections in local communities.



People wait for coronavirus testing at a facility in Seoul on Monday.

The government on Wednesday reiterated that the coming few weeks will be the "critical period." A rise in infections with unknown transmission routes means people should stay at least 2 m away from each other and those who came into contact with a coronavirus patient should put themselves in self-quarantine for at least two weeks. "The best vaccine available at the moment is keeping these two rules," said Eom Joong-shik at Gachon University Gil Hospital. "Personal protective measures are very important in this war against coronavirus," agreed Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip. Health authorities have been ordering people who have had contact with a confirmed patient to stay at home since early last month. As the virus spread, the number of people in self-quarantine surged to 29,888 -- more than five times the number of infections.

Quarantine workers disinfect suits for fighter jet pilots at an airbase in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province on Wednesday, in this photo from the Air Force.

But not everyone is complying. Some have transmitted the virus to their families because they did not understand the isolation rules. A man in his 50s, for example, went out to buy masks and wandered around downtown Daegu for four hours after testing positive for the virus on Monday. Another infected man in his 60s was caught by police in a restaurant in Seoul. A woman in her 70s, who later tested positive, traveled from Daegu to Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province on public transportation to see her daughter. In a bid to prevent any violation, laws have been revised to introduce tougher penalties as of Wednesday. Those who break their self-isolation now faces a prison term of up to one year or a fine up to W10 million (US$1=W1,185). "The government has developed a smartphone app for people in self-quarantine," Kim said. "It alerts them when they leave their permitted area. It will start a test-run in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province on Saturday." But some experts pointed that it all comes down to mature civic consciousness in the end. "The app is no use if they leave the phone at home," a health official in Daegu said.