<p>South Korea reported 20 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday -- increasing its total by nearly two-thirds -- including a cluster of at least 16 centred on the southern city of Daegu.</p>.<p>The trade-dependent nation has been hit by the economic fallout from the virus outbreak in neighbouring China, but until Wednesday's jump, its own case numbers had hardly changed for several days.</p>.<p>The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement that 20 new coronavirus cases had been confirmed, raising its total from 31 to 51.</p>.<p>Of those, 18 were in Daegu and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, with 15 of them believed to be linked to a single patient, a 61-year-old woman.</p>.<p>Fourteen of them attend the same church as the woman, the KCDC said, while the other one had come into contact with her at a hospital.</p>.<p>She had first developed a fever on February 10 but reportedly refused to be tested twice for the coronavirus on the grounds that she had not recently travelled abroad.</p>.<p>She was not put into quarantine until a week later and was confirmed as the country's 31st case on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Seoul has blocked entry to foreigners coming from Hubei, the Chinese province that is the epicentre of the outbreak, and suspended visa-free entry to the island of Jeju, popular with Chinese tourists, but has not imposed a general ban on arrivals from China.</p>
<p>South Korea reported 20 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday -- increasing its total by nearly two-thirds -- including a cluster of at least 16 centred on the southern city of Daegu.</p>.<p>The trade-dependent nation has been hit by the economic fallout from the virus outbreak in neighbouring China, but until Wednesday's jump, its own case numbers had hardly changed for several days.</p>.<p>The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement that 20 new coronavirus cases had been confirmed, raising its total from 31 to 51.</p>.<p>Of those, 18 were in Daegu and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, with 15 of them believed to be linked to a single patient, a 61-year-old woman.</p>.<p>Fourteen of them attend the same church as the woman, the KCDC said, while the other one had come into contact with her at a hospital.</p>.<p>She had first developed a fever on February 10 but reportedly refused to be tested twice for the coronavirus on the grounds that she had not recently travelled abroad.</p>.<p>She was not put into quarantine until a week later and was confirmed as the country's 31st case on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Seoul has blocked entry to foreigners coming from Hubei, the Chinese province that is the epicentre of the outbreak, and suspended visa-free entry to the island of Jeju, popular with Chinese tourists, but has not imposed a general ban on arrivals from China.</p>