SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea reported 256 new coronavirus cases on Friday (Feb 28), taking its total – the highest in the world outside China – to 2,022, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

More than 90 per cent of the new cases were in Daegu – the city at the epicentre of the outbreak in South Korea – and the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, it added.

There were no further deaths, keeping the toll at 13.

Most of South Korea’s coronavirus are linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often accused of being a cult.

After days of mounting public anger, the secretive Shincheonji group handed over a list of 212,000 members, the government said.

Local authorities across the country will check if they have symptoms of fever or respiratory disease and put them in quarantine at home if so, said vice-health minister Kim Gang-lip.

The coronavirus, which originated in China, has rapidly spread to more than 40 other countries and territories.

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