국내 신규확진 126명…전세계 코로나19 누적 확진자 5천만명

Now to the COVID-19 situation.
The total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide surpassed 50 million.
In South Korea, the number of weekly local cases... has been on an upward trend for around five weeks.
Jang Tae-hyun reports.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reached another unwanted milestone... topping 50 million cases worldwide since the pandemic began.
According to Johns Hopkins University, global coronavirus cases surpassed this number on Sunday.
South Korea on Monday reported 1-hundred-26 new COVID-19 cases... maintaining a three-digit caseload for a second consecutive day.
Of those, 99 were locally transmitted and 27 were from overseas.
The weekly local caseload has been on an upward trend for five weeks.
Over half of Monday's total are from the capital region... but the virus is spreading to other areas of the country too such as Chungcheongnam-do and Gangwon-do provinces.
The total number of cases is at 27-thousand 5-hundred-53 and with two additional fatalities,... the death toll stands at 4-hundred-80.
The country's health officials say that although following virus prevention guidelines can be tough, people should abide by the rules.
"South Korea's COVID-19 caseload is lower than that of the U.S. or in Europe, but we are not in a safe situation as we are still seeing outbreaks in local communities. These kinds of infections are hard to trace, so we need to work harder to stop the spread of the virus."
Starting from December 30th, the South Korean government will no longer publicize COVID-19 patients' personal information like gender or age.
And, businesses which are found to have gone against virus prevention measures on two occasions... such as by not asking people to wear masks or write in visitors' logs, will be ordered to close for ten days.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News.