COVID-19 New Cases 594... Despite Half Reduction in Tests, Nearing 600 (Summary)

Medical staff are guiding visitors at the screening clinic of the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On the 8th, 594 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified in South Korea. After recording numbers in the 600s over the weekend, the daily cases dropped to the 500s for the first time in three days, but the spread remains ongoing.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, as of midnight on this day, there were 566 locally transmitted cases and 28 imported cases. The number of tests conducted was 11,949, nearly half of the 22,825 tests conducted on the same weekday last week, but the number of confirmed cases approached 600. The cumulative number of confirmed cases rose to 38,755.

The daily confirmed cases in South Korea over the past two weeks from the 25th of last month to this day were 382 → 581 → 555 → 503 → 450 → 438 → 451 → 511 → 540 → 629 → 583 → 631 → 615 → 594, showing a range between 400 and 600 cases.

Kang Do-tae, the 1st General Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting held this morning, "The number of (new) confirmed cases remains around 600 and is not decreasing," adding, "26% of confirmed cases have unclear infection routes, and the ratio of confirmed cases among those tested has increased fourfold." According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, the positivity rate, which indicates the proportion of confirmed cases among those tested, surged from the 1% range in October and November to the 4% range this month.

On this day, 385 cases were reported in the metropolitan area alone: 212 in Seoul, 146 in Gyeonggi, and 27 in Incheon. Confirmed cases were also reported in 13 other cities and provinces except Sejong. Among the 28 imported cases, 7 were detected during quarantine, and the remaining 21 were confirmed in the community. There were 12 Korean nationals and 16 foreigners.

The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation increased by 349 from the previous day to 29,650. Three deaths were reported among confirmed cases, raising the cumulative death toll from 549 to 552.

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