Seoul COVID-19 Positive Rate Drops to 0.6% Amid Increased Testing... "Impact of Asymptomatic Screening" (Update)

Citizens who visited the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza on the 23rd are lining up and waiting for their turn. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 24th that the COVID-19 positivity rate gradually decreased to 0.6% as the number of coronavirus tests increased.

According to Seoul on the day, the number of COVID-19 tests conducted in Seoul on the previous day (23rd) was 51,973, the second highest ever following 52,346 tests on the 18th. Of the tests on the 23rd, 32,966 (63.4%) were conducted at temporary screening clinics.

The positivity rate, calculated by dividing the number of confirmed cases on the day by the number of tests conducted the previous day, was 0.6% on the 23rd, the lowest in the past two weeks.

The positivity rate has been decreasing, from 1.4% on the 21st, 0.8% on the 22nd, to 0.6% on the 23rd. The average positivity rate over the recent 14 days from the 10th to the 23rd of this month is 1.6%.

The decrease in the positivity rate is attributed to the increased number of tests conducted at temporary screening clinics. Since the first day of operation on the 14th, the number of people tested at these clinics has exceeded 10,000 daily.

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Citizen Health Bureau, explained at an online briefing held at Seoul City Hall on the day, "Because many asymptomatic individuals are getting tested at temporary screening clinics, the overall positivity rate has dropped."

Although the positivity rate is decreasing, the spread of COVID-19 is still not slowing down. On the 23rd, Seoul reported 319 new COVID-19 cases, marking nine consecutive days with over 300 cases since the 15th.

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