New COVID-19 Cases Reach 200s for the First Time This Year... 207 Cases in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (Update)

It Seems to Be the Impact of the Decrease in the Number of Tests

On the 3rd, citizens are waiting for tests at a temporary COVID-19 screening site set up at Seoul Plaza. The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight that day, the number of new domestic COVID-19 cases increased by 467, bringing the total to 79,311. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] On the 8th, the number of new domestic COVID-19 cases dropped to the 200s. It is the first time in 77 days since November 23 last year (271 cases) that the daily new cases recorded in the 200s.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on the day, 289 new domestic COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 81,185. The significant decrease in cases is believed to be due to a reduction in the number of tests conducted during the holiday. Last week, except for Monday (the 1st), the daily number of COVID-19 tests during weekdays usually exceeded 70,000, but on this day, it was only 34,964, about half the usual amount. However, this is 16 fewer than the 305 new cases reported on the 1st, when a similar number of tests were conducted.

Regarding the infection routes of the new cases on this day, 264 were locally transmitted and 25 were imported from overseas.

Many cases still occurred mainly in the metropolitan area. There were 111 cases in Seoul, 79 in Gyeonggi, and 17 in Incheon, totaling 207 confirmed cases in the metropolitan area. Among non-metropolitan areas, 20 cases were confirmed in Daegu. Following that, there were 7 cases each in Busan and Gwangju, 5 each in Chungnam and Gyeongbuk, 4 each in Daejeon, Gangwon, and Gyeongnam, and 1 in Sejong. No additional cases were reported in Ulsan, Chungbuk, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Jeju.

There were 25 imported cases. Among them, 9 were identified during quarantine, and the remaining 16 were confirmed in the local community. There were 12 Korean nationals and 13 foreigners.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths increased by 3 from the previous day, reaching 1,474. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill patients decreased by 2 from the previous day to 188. The number of patients who were declared recovered and released from isolation increased by 353, bringing the total to 70,218.

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