Government: "New Confirmed Cases in the 400s, Impact of Reduced Testing Due to Weekend and Cold Wave"

Icicles hang on the external shelf of the specimen collection room at the temporary screening clinic in Seoul Station Plaza on the 8th, as a record-breaking cold wave rages with the lowest temperature in Seoul dropping below minus 18 degrees Celsius. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government analyzed on the 11th that the number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) falling to the 400s was due to the weekend effect.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said in an online briefing that day, "The decrease in testing volume over the weekend partially influenced the lower number of new confirmed cases."

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, the number of new confirmed cases as of midnight that day was 451. The 400s range was recorded for the first time in 41 days since last month on the 1st (451 cases), just before the third wave of the outbreak intensified.

The cold wave also affected the decrease in testing volume. Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, said, "Overall testing volume decreased slightly last weekend, and I think the biggest factor was the restriction of temporary screening clinics' operations due to the cold wave."

The government forecasted that the number of new confirmed cases would increase starting Wednesday, the 13th. Son said, "Since weekend test results are entered with a delay of about a day or two, the impact will last until tomorrow," adding, "From Wednesday to Friday, we need to consider that the number of new confirmed cases tends to rise again."

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