Another cluster transmission of the novel coronavirus has been reported at a nursing hospital in Daegu, the epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea, city officials said Friday.

A total of 57 people at the hospital, including medical staff and patients, have tested positive for the COVID-19 over the past three days, according to the officials.

On Wednesday, two nurses at the hospital were confirmed to have been infected. Eight additional cases were reported on Thursday and 47 more cases on Friday.

It is not yet known about how they were infected with the virus.

The Daegu city government is now working to test all medical staff, patients and employees at nursing hospitals and relevant facilities in the area.

Of 8,653 coronavirus infections that have been confirmed since mid-January, more than 70 percent have been reported in Daegu, the fourth-largest city with a population of 2.5 million.

(Yonhap)