The United Nations Command (UNC) announced that it has temporarily suspended visits to the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the inter-Korean border on Wednesday, after two UNC members came into contact with a COVID-19 patient.

The announcement came as South Korea’s Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 1,212 more confirmed cases from the previous day, the most since last December. Health authorities warned in a briefing that the country appears to be approaching a “fourth wave” of the pandemic.

“Out of an abundance of caution, UNC has temporarily suspended visits to the JSA. Two members of our team came