318 New COVID-19 Cases Nationwide by 6 PM... 44 Fewer Than Yesterday

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] As the third wave of COVID-19 continues, confirmed cases have continued nationwide on the 4th.

According to the quarantine authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, a total of 318 people were confirmed positive nationwide from midnight to 6 p.m. on that day. This is 44 fewer than the 362 cases recorded at the same time the previous day.

Looking at the regions where confirmed cases were reported, 235 cases (73.9%) were in the metropolitan area, and 83 cases (26.1%) were in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, there were 113 in Seoul, 99 in Gyeonggi, 30 in Busan, 23 in Incheon, 16 in Daegu, 9 in Gwangju, 7 each in Gyeongbuk and Chungnam, 6 in Gyeongnam, 5 in Gangwon, and 3 in Chungbuk.

Among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, six areas including Daejeon, Sejong, Ulsan, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Jeju have not yet reported any confirmed cases. Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases announced as of 0:00 on the 5th is expected to increase to around 400.

The third wave, which had shown a gradual decline since the New Year, has shown unstable signs after turning to an upward trend last week due to a cluster infection at an unauthorized educational facility of IM Mission. In the past week (January 29 to February 4), the daily new confirmed cases were 469 → 456 → 355 → 305 → 336 → 467 → 451, averaging about 406 cases per day. Among these, the locally transmitted cases, which are the key indicator for adjusting social distancing levels, averaged about 376 cases per day, maintaining the social distancing level 2 range (nationwide over 300 cases).

New cluster infection cases were also confirmed one after another on this day. Major cases include a rehabilitation hospital in Jung-gu, Busan, where a total of 12 patients and staff were confirmed positive, and three police officers at the Dongdaemun Police Station in Seoul tested positive, leading to testing of the investigation department staff. Other new infection cases reported by the Central Disease Control Headquarters include ▲ a hospital in Gwanak-gu, Seoul (cumulative 17 cases) ▲ a customs business company in Jung-gu, Incheon (18 cases) ▲ a trading company in Yeonsu-gu (15 cases).

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