Korea on cusp of erasing gains in virus fight, new cases still on higher plateau

South Korea's virus fight is dragging on, with a steady rise in new virus cases and untraceable infections, along with a spike in imported cases. Health authorities warned of another possible wave of infections. The country added 49 new cases on Friday, including 32 local infections, raising the total caseload to 12,306, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The number of new daily COVID-19 cases marks a slight slowdown from a three-week high of 59 a day earlier. Of the locally transmitted cases, 26 were reported in the densely populated Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, around half of the country's 50-million population lives. The Seoul metropolitan area accounted for most of the newly added virus cases this month. The country has also seen an uptick in the number of infections outside of the capital region as well as in imported cases.