362 New COVID-19 Cases by 6 PM... 400s Expected for Two Consecutive Days

Cluster Infections Continue Nationwide... 293 Cases in the Capital Region

On the 3rd, citizens are waiting for tests at a temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seoul Plaza. The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the same day, there were 467 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total to 79,311. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] On the 3rd, COVID-19 confirmed cases surged across the country.

According to the quarantine authorities and local governments including Seoul City, as of 6 p.m. that day, a total of 362 people were confirmed positive for COVID-19 domestically. This is 9 more than the 353 cases recorded at the same time the previous day. By region, 293 cases were reported in the metropolitan area and 69 cases in non-metropolitan areas.

By city and province, 151 cases were reported in Seoul, 104 in Gyeonggi, and 38 in Incheon, showing a flood of confirmed cases in the metropolitan area. In the non-metropolitan areas, Busan reported 22 cases; Daegu, Gangwon, and Chungnam each reported 7; Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam each reported 6; Chungbuk 4; Gwangju and Jeju each 3; Daejeon 2; and Ulsan and Jeonbuk each 1. No confirmed cases have yet been reported in Sejong and Jeonnam.

Since the tally is conducted until midnight, the number of new confirmed cases announced as of 0:00 on the 4th is expected to continue in the 400s for the second consecutive day.

The third wave had been on a declining trend since the beginning of this year, but due to the impact of a cluster infection at an unauthorized IM Missionary educational facility last week, the trend has reversed to an increase. The average daily new confirmed cases over the past week reached 412. The average daily locally transmitted cases, a key indicator for adjusting social distancing levels, is about 383, which falls within the level 2 range, but the possibility of re-entering level 2.5 remains.

In particular, concerns are growing as new cluster infection cases continue to be confirmed on this day as well. Related to a language academy in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, 9 people including teachers and students were confirmed positive, and at a restaurant in Goyang City, 7 people including the owner and workers tested positive.

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