Among 166 New Cases the Previous Day, 155 Are Local Infections... Highest Since Late March

Concerns of a Pandemic Surge
Government Reviews Social Distancing Level 2

On the 14th, citizens are waiting to undergo specimen testing at a temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up near Dongdaemun Tongil Shopping Center in Seoul, where a new case of COVID-19 was confirmed. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) rapidly spreads in the Seoul metropolitan area, the daily number of new confirmed cases exceeded 100 for two consecutive days on the 15th.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on that day, the number of new domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 166, bringing the total to 15,039.

The number of new confirmed cases recorded triple digits for two consecutive days, following 103 cases the previous day. This is the first time since the end of March that the daily cases have been in the 100s for two consecutive days.

The number of new confirmed cases had been maintained in the 20s to 40s this month but has been spreading from 28 cases on the 10th to 34, 54, 56, 103, and 166 cases.

Regarding the infection routes of confirmed cases, 155 were locally transmitted, while only 11 were imported from overseas.

By region, there were 72 cases in Seoul, 67 in Gyeonggi, and 6 in Incheon, totaling 145 cases in the metropolitan area.

The rest were 3 cases each in Busan and Gangwon, and 1 case each in Gwangju, Daejeon, Chungnam, and Gyeongnam.

Accordingly, the government is expected to raise the current Level 1 social distancing measures to Level 2 in the metropolitan area, judging that the COVID-19 situation is serious.

Meanwhile, the death toll remained unchanged at 305.

The health authorities announce the daily domestic COVID-19 patient statistics based on midnight data every day around 10 a.m.

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