Global COVID-19 Cases Surpass 20 Million... After 223 Days (Comprehensive)

223 Days After the First Official Report
43 Days After Surpassing 10 Million

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] On the 10th (Korean time), the total number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) worldwide surpassed 20 million. It has been 223 days since the first official report of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China, on December 31 last year.

According to the statistics site 'Worldometer,' which aggregates the global COVID-19 status, as of 10 a.m. on this day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases was counted at 20,021,321.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has recently shown a sharp upward trend. It took six months from the first outbreak report to exceed 10 million cases on June 28, but it took only 43 days for the number to increase by another 10 million. Since recording 15 million cumulative cases on the 22nd of last month, 1 million new confirmed cases have been occurring every four days.

By country, the United States has the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases at 5.2 million. This is followed by Brazil (3.04 million) and India (2.21 million). The number of confirmed cases in these top three outbreak countries alone is 10.45 million, accounting for more than half of the total. Russia (890,000), South Africa (560,000), Mexico (480,000), and Peru (470,000) also rank among the top outbreak countries.

As of midnight on this day, South Korea's cumulative confirmed cases were 14,626, ranking 74th worldwide. The number of new confirmed cases increased by 28 compared to the previous day. Regarding the infection routes, 17 cases were domestic community transmissions, and 11 were imported cases.

Domestically, community infections have been continuing recently, centered around churches in the metropolitan area. In two churches in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, infections have been steadily occurring, and secondary and tertiary transmissions are happening in various places such as daycare centers, workplaces, and Seoul Namdaemun Market, putting the quarantine authorities on high alert.

At Namdaemun Market's 'Kennedy Arcade,' nine related confirmed cases have occurred since the 7th. A female merchant (resident of Goyang), a member of Banseok Church in Goyang, was the first to be confirmed positive, and seven more merchants out of 20 working in the same arcade building were additionally infected. The child of the initially confirmed woman also tested positive for COVID-19. The quarantine authorities plan to check for more contacts and conduct tests.

The cumulative confirmed cases related to Goyang Gippeum153 Church also reached 20. Confirmed cases occurred consecutively at 'Elgol In Bio,' a door-to-door sales company located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where the church pastor belongs, and at an elementary school in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, where the pastor's wife works. Additionally, one more confirmed case related to the Nuga Mission meeting in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, increased the total to five.

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) quarantine team, stated, "We are deeply considering what effective additional measures are needed regarding the management of small gatherings."

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