South Korea reports 594 new coronavirus cases, bringing total close to 3,000

South Korea reported 594 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, its biggest daily increase since the first infection was confirmed on Jan. 20, taking its tally to 2,931 cases.

Of the new cases, 476 were from the southeastern city of Daegu, where a church at the center of the outbreak is located, and 60 from the nearby province of North Gyeongsang, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

The tally of deaths was 16, unchanged from a day earlier.

South Korea has suffered the largest outbreak of any country outside China, which has recorded more than 2,800 deaths and 79,000 infections since the epidemic began late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

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