Domestic Cases Down 193.2 per Week... "Peak Passed but Cannot Let Guard Down" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government has assessed that the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has passed its peak and entered a declining phase. However, it emphasized that it is not a situation to be complacent about, as it is still in the early stage of decline.

On the 10th, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said at a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office, "The third wave has passed its peak and is showing a declining trend, but it is still in the early stage of decline, and the rate of decrease is gradual," urging caution.

According to the government, the average daily number of new locally transmitted confirmed cases from the 3rd to the 9th was 738.1, a decrease of 193.2 compared to the previous week (931.3). The metropolitan area recorded 520.9 cases, and non-metropolitan areas 217.3 cases, both showing a decrease.

The infection reproduction number, which indicates how many people one confirmed case infects, also dropped to 0.88, below 1. A value below 1 means that the spread is being suppressed.

New cluster infection cases sharply decreased from 46 to 10. Son said, "Looking at the infection routes, the proportion of cluster infections, which was in the 60% range in mid-November, dropped to around 30% last week. Meanwhile, the proportion of cases from contact with confirmed patients rose from the 20% range in mid-November to 40% last week."

He added, "This means that the current epidemic pattern is being driven more by personal contacts such as appointments, gatherings, and travel rather than multi-use facilities," and said, "We must reduce the scale of the epidemic as much as possible by the 17th to cautiously ease quarantine measures."

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