Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Aged 60 and Over Increased Tenfold in One Month

Bangdaebon, Age-specific Incidence Table Released
Over 60s Increase from 13 to 134 in One Month
Over 80s Rise from 1 to 23

On the 8th, the Richway office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, related to a ping pong hall and a multi-level elderly health product sales company, is being restricted from entry due to ongoing secondary infections./Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues to spread mainly in the metropolitan area, the number of new confirmed cases among the elderly aged 60 and over has increased tenfold in a month. The possibility of resulting in casualties has also increased.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on the 14th, the number of new confirmed cases aged 60 and over was 13 during the week of April 17-23, but increased to 46 during May 24-30, 103 during May 31-June 6, and 134 during June 7-13. Comparing the figures from the week of April 17 (13 cases) and the week of last week (134 cases) simply shows about a tenfold increase.

By age group, over the past month, those aged 60-69 increased weekly from 8 → 32 → 60 → 74, those aged 70-79 from 4 → 7 → 34 → 37, and those aged 80 and above from 1 → 7 → 9 → 23, showing an increasing trend. This appears to be largely influenced by the large number of elderly confirmed cases in places where recent cluster infections occurred sequentially.

In fact, at 'Richway,' a health product door-to-door sales company located in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, there were many elderly confirmed cases due to the nature of the business targeting seniors. As of 12 noon the previous day, among 153 related confirmed cases, 86 were aged 60 and over. In addition, cluster or sporadic infections have occurred in elderly-related facilities, including the Seongsim Daycare Center in Dobong-gu, Seoul, which has reported a total of 17 confirmed cases so far.

Accordingly, health authorities are concerned about the possibility of casualties as the proportion of elderly, who are vulnerable to infectious diseases, increases. The domestic COVID-19 fatality rate is on average 2.29%, but it rises sharply with age: 2.59% for those in their 60s, 10.16% for those in their 70s, and 25.61% for those aged 80 and above. Among the 277 deaths, 257 were aged 60 and over, accounting for 92.8% of all deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.