880 New COVID-19 Cases, Approaching 900 Again... Total Deaths Reach 600 (Update)

On the 15th, when 880 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, citizens who visited the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza were waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On the 15th, 880 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified in South Korea. Due to the impact of weekend testing volumes, the number of confirmed cases dropped to 718 the previous day but then rose again to nearly 900, continuing the trend of the third wave.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, as of midnight on that day, there were 848 locally transmitted cases and 32 imported cases. The total cumulative number of confirmed cases increased to 44,364.

The daily domestic confirmed cases have fluctuated over the past fifteen days from the 1st of this month to the 15th as follows: 451 → 511 → 540 → 628 → 577 → 631 → 615 → 592 → 671 → 680 → 689 → 950 → 1030 → 718 → 880. The number of new confirmed cases exceeding 100 has continued for 38 consecutive days since the 8th of last month.

Among the locally transmitted cases on this day, 246 were in Seoul, 274 in Gyeonggi, and 55 in Incheon, totaling 575 cases in the metropolitan area alone. Confirmed cases were reported in all 14 other provinces as well, with Ulsan having the highest number outside the metropolitan area at 49 new cases. This was followed by Busan with 40, Chungnam 37, Daejeon 32, Chungbuk 24, Daegu 18, Gyeongnam 16, Gyeongbuk 15, Gangwon and Jeonbuk each with 13, Jeju 9, Gwangju 5, and Sejong and Jeonnam each with 1.

Of the 32 imported cases, 8 were detected during quarantine, and the remaining 24 were identified in the community. Among them, 11 were Korean nationals and 21 were foreigners.

The death toll increased by 13 from the previous day, reaching a total of 600. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill patients increased by 20 from the previous day to 205, surpassing 200. The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation rose by 457 to 32,559.

Meanwhile, the number of diagnostic tests conducted on the previous day was 44,181, which is 21,737 more than the 22,444 tests conducted the day before. Additionally, free testing was implemented at temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area starting the previous day, with a total of 4,973 tests conducted at 30 locations.

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