S. Korea leader: Unprecedented steps needed to fight virus

Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the Covid-19 in a local market in Daegu, South Korea on Sunday (Feb 23). South Korea's president has put the country on its highest alert for infectious diseases and says officials should take "unprecedented, powerful" steps to fight a viral outbreak. - AP

SEOUL: South Korea’s president has put his nation on its highest alert for infectious diseases, saying Sunday (Feb 23) that officials should take "unprecedented, powerful” steps to fight the outbreak of the new virus in the country.

President Moon Jae-in made the comments at the start of a government meeting as South Korean authorities reported 123 more cases, raising the country's total to 556, with five deaths.