69 New COVID-19 Cases Yesterday... Double Digits in One Day (Update)

Two days before the Chuseok holiday, on the 28th of last month, the domestic terminal at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was bustling with travelers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] On the 8th, the newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) were counted at 69. Among them, 60 cases are presumed to be domestic community transmissions, and 9 cases are imported from overseas. After the holiday, the number of new confirmed cases had increased to triple digits due to increased diagnostic testing, but it dropped back to double digits in just one day.

According to the domestic COVID-19 situation compiled by the Central Disease Control Headquarters as of midnight on the same day, 49 new cases were reported in the Seoul metropolitan area, accounting for more than 70% of the total new confirmed cases. Previously, during the holiday, 5 new cases were reported in Busan, where infections spread through family gatherings, and 7 in Daejeon. In Gyeongnam, 3 new cases were confirmed (including 2 imported cases), and 1 new case each in Chungbuk and Gyeongbuk. Three cases were identified during the quarantine stage.

The daily new confirmed cases had increased somewhat to 114 the previous day compared to double digits during the holiday period, but decreased again in just one day. The scale of new COVID-19 cases has been steadily occurring around 100 cases since the beginning of this month. Typically, diagnostic testing decreases by more than half during weekends or holidays, leading to a decrease in new confirmed cases. Considering that the number of new confirmed cases on this day was during a weekday with more diagnostic testing, there is room to see that the domestic situation has turned to a downward trend. However, since the incubation period from the recent holiday continues until next week and the three-day Hangul Day holiday from the 9th may increase movement, it is too early to make a hasty judgment.

Among the newly confirmed imported cases on this day, 5 arrived from Asian countries other than China, the highest number, followed by 3 from the United States and 1 from Poland. The number of severe and critical patients was 97, down by 5 from the previous day. Two deaths were reported the previous day, bringing the total domestic death toll to 427. A total of 129 patients were released from isolation yesterday, and the number of patients currently isolated and receiving treatment was counted at 1,532.

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