There's a cold wave of minus 10°C right in front of "Dongji."Respiratory disease 'emergency'

[Anchor]
It was the coldest this winter as inland temperatures, including Seoul, dropped to around minus 10 degrees this morning with only a few "companion" left.

There is also an increasing number of cases of respiratory diseases, including the flu.

Reporter Jung Hye-yoon's report.

[Reporter]
A fierce cold wave has come ahead of the season of Dongji, which has the longest night.

Thick long padded jacket with a fur coat, a fur hat, and gloves
There are people who are so heavily armed that they can't see their faces on the
street.

Seoul's morning temperature hit its lowest this winter with minus 6.2 degrees Celsius,
Due to the cold winds of
, the wind temperature rose from minus 10 degrees to minus 5 degrees Celsius all day.

[Kim Yu-min / Mok-dong, Seoul: I came out to play outside after the final exam, but it's so cold outside that I think I should do something like escape a room that I can do indoors.]

[Hong Seo-joon / Mok-dong, Seoul] The weather is so cold that I feel like I'm going to freeze.]

According to unofficial records, the mountain temperature in coastal-myeon, Yang-gu, Gangwon-do fell to -16.1 degrees, and the wind chill was -20 degrees.

Official observatory temperatures were also -15 degrees in Daegwallyeong, -13.5 degrees in Cheorwon, -12.3 degrees in Paju, -4 degrees in Daejeon, -1.2 degrees in Daegu, and -7.5 degrees in Bonghwa.

In the cold, a heavy snow warning was once issued for Ulleungdo Dokdo and the west coast.

This cold wave will continue for another day, and snow is expected to expand instead of cold wave later in the week.

[Lee Jae-jeong / Kweather Forecast Team Leader: Snow is expected to start on the west coast on Friday and snow is expected to fall by morning to the west inland, including Seoul, on the weekend. Snow will stop during the day, but thin ice or icy roads can be created in sub-zero temperatures, so preparations are needed.]

From Sunday, it is expected that the morning temperature will drop by nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius again, so it is necessary to prepare for the cold.

In particular, the risk of respiratory diseases such as flu has also increased due to large temperature changes.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently (the first week of December) said the number of suspected flu patients has increased for five consecutive weeks to 7.3 per 1,000 people, urging thorough hygiene management and special attention as a pandemic warning could be issued by the end of the year.

I'm YTN's Jung Hyeyoon.

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video: Park Jung-ran
Design: Jeong Wheein
Photograph: Kim Man-jin