176 New COVID-19 Cases... Highest in the Past Week (Update)

Central Disease Control Headquarters, Domestic Occurrence Status as of the 11th
Continued 9 Consecutive Days in the 100s but Increasing Trend This Week

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 11th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] On the 11th, the newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) were counted at 176. Among them, 161 cases were domestic community infections, and 15 cases were suspected to be imported from overseas. The end of the strengthened social distancing level 2 applied in the metropolitan area is just two days away, but the decline targeted by the quarantine authorities is still far from being achieved.

According to the domestic occurrence status announced by the Central Disease Control Headquarters as of midnight on the same day, including imported cases, Seoul reported 63 cases, Gyeonggi 47 cases, and Incheon 8 cases, totaling more than two-thirds of the new confirmed cases in the metropolitan area with 118 cases. Among non-metropolitan areas, Daejeon (11 cases) and Chungnam (14 cases) also recorded double-digit new cases. The 176 new cases are the highest level in the past week.

The problem is the trend. The number of new cases in the 100s has continued for eight consecutive days. After dropping below 200 on the 3rd, the numbers showed a decreasing trend for a while but have been generally increasing again since the beginning of this week. The so-called level 2.5 quarantine measures applied in the metropolitan area since the 30th of last month should have gradually taken effect by now, but they have not. The authorities have set the first goal as fewer than 100 new cases, in the double digits.

The drop to the low 100s earlier this week was influenced by a decrease in diagnostic testing over the weekend, indicating that the spread of infection is still difficult to control. New cluster outbreaks have even occurred in places previously considered high-risk, such as large hospitals in the metropolitan area and door-to-door sales company briefings.

Among the 15 suspected imported cases, 9 were confirmed at the quarantine stage, and 6 were found in the community. By nationality, 4 are Korean nationals and 11 are foreigners. The number of critically ill and severe patients whose symptoms have worsened increased by 6 from the previous day to 176, the highest since domestic COVID-19 cases first appeared. Four deaths were recorded yesterday, raising the cumulative death toll to 350. With 256 patients released from isolation the previous day, the number of patients currently under isolation treatment slightly decreased to 3,953 compared to the day before.

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