COVID-19: 1,097 New Cases Yesterday... 5 Consecutive Days Over 1,000, Setting a New Record (Summary)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in South Korea approached 1,100 on the 20th. Following the period from the 16th to the 19th (1078 → 1014 → 1064 → 1053), the number exceeded 1,000 for five consecutive days. Additionally, the previous record high (1,078 cases) was broken again after four days. Despite the number of tests conducted on the weekend day being nearly 20,000 fewer than the previous weekday, the number of confirmed cases actually increased.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on this day, there were 1,097 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 49,665. This is an increase of 44 cases compared to the previous day (1,053 cases).

The 1,097 new confirmed cases represent the highest number recorded in 335 days since the first confirmed case in South Korea on January 20.

From the 14th to this day, the daily new confirmed cases over the past week were 718 → 880 → 1078 → 1014 → 1064 (corrected from 1062) → 1053 → 1097. The number of new cases exceeding 100 has continued for 43 consecutive days since the 8th of last month.

Regarding the infection routes of the new confirmed cases, 1,072 were locally transmitted, and 25 were imported cases. The number of locally transmitted cases increased by 43 compared to the previous day (1,029 cases).

From the 14th to the 20th, the average daily number of new confirmed cases was 986.3. One of the key indicators for adjusting social distancing levels, the average daily number of locally transmitted cases, was 959.3.

Looking at the regions where confirmed cases were reported, Seoul had 470 cases, Gyeonggi 244, and Incheon 62, totaling 776 cases in the metropolitan area. In non-metropolitan areas, Gangwon had 55 cases, Gyeongnam 49, Busan 33, Jeonbuk 29, Daegu 25, Jeju 24, Gyeongbuk 23, Chungnam 19, Chungbuk 14, Gwangju 13, Ulsan 5, Jeonnam 4, and Daejeon 3.

Infection cases were concentrated mainly in nursing facilities, hospitals, religious facilities, and correctional facilities.

At the Chamsarang Nursing Home in Cheongju, Chungbuk, 61 people were infected by the previous day, leading to a cohort isolation measure for the same group. In the cluster infections at Seongmo Hospital in Goesan County and Somang Hospital in Eumseong County, 36 additional cases were confirmed, increasing the cumulative total to 58. At the Seoul Eastern Detention Center, testing conducted on approximately 2,400 inmates resulted in 184 inmates and 1 staff member testing positive, totaling 185 confirmed cases.

The number of imported confirmed cases was 25, one more than the previous day (24). Among these, nine cases were identified during quarantine inspections at airports or ports. The remaining 16 cases tested positive while in self-quarantine at their residences or temporary living facilities in Gyeonggi (5), Seoul (3), Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam (2 each), and Gwangju, Ulsan, Sejong, and Chungnam (1 each).

Combining locally transmitted and imported cases (excluding quarantine), the metropolitan area accounted for 784 cases: Seoul 473, Gyeonggi 249, and Incheon 62, representing 71.5% of the total confirmed cases. New confirmed cases were reported in all 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

The number of deaths increased by 15 from the previous day, reaching a cumulative total of 674. The domestic average fatality rate is 1.36%. The number of critically ill patients whose condition is severe or worsening after being confirmed with COVID-19 increased by 3 from the previous day to 278.

The number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests conducted the previous day was 36,847, which is 19,603 fewer than the 56,450 tests conducted the day before.

The positivity rate calculated based on the number of tests conducted the previous day was 2.98% (1,097 positive cases out of 36,847 tests), a significant increase compared to 1.87% (1,053 positive cases out of 56,450 tests) the day before. As of midnight on this day, the cumulative positivity rate is 1.35% (49,665 positive cases out of 3,683,094 tests).

Meanwhile, the Central Disease Control Headquarters initially announced the cumulative confirmed cases as 48,570 as of midnight the previous day, but corrected the final total to 48,568 by excluding 2 cases from Seoul due to misreporting by local governments.

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