362 New COVID-19 Cases... Metropolitan Area Business Restrictions Extended to 10 PM (Comprehensive)

345 Local Cases and 17 Imported Cases... Back to 300s After Four Days
Social Distancing Eased, Seoul Metropolitan Area Business Hours Extended from 9 PM to 10 PM

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped to the 300s for the first time in four days. The government will extend the operating hours of multi-use facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area by one hour, from 9 PM to 10 PM, starting on the 15th. Nationwide entertainment venues will also be allowed to operate until 10 PM, provided they comply with quarantine rules. The social distancing level will be eased to Level 2 in the metropolitan area and Level 1.5 in other regions.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, 362 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed domestically, bringing the total to 83,199. This is 41 fewer than the previous day (403 cases).

The 'third wave' of infections, which began in mid-November last year, showed signs of calming down at the start of the new year but has become unstable again due to successive cluster infections. The number of new cases, which had recently dropped to the high 200s, surged back to the 500s, then decreased to the 400s, and has now fallen to the 300s.

Of the new cases reported today, 345 are locally transmitted and 17 are imported. The regions with confirmed cases include Seoul with 131, Gyeonggi with 97, and Incheon with 29, totaling 257 cases in the metropolitan area, accounting for 74.5% of all locally transmitted cases. Outside the metropolitan area, there are 26 cases in Busan, 14 each in Daegu and Chungnam, 5 each in Daejeon, Sejong, and Jeonbuk, 4 each in Chungbuk, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam, 3 in Gwangju, and 2 each in Ulsan and Gangwon. The total number of cases outside the metropolitan area is 88.

The death toll increased by 7 from the previous day, reaching a cumulative total of 1,514. The domestic average fatality rate is 1.82%. The number of critically ill patients decreased by 4 from the previous day, totaling 157.

However, the decrease in confirmed cases today is also believed to reflect a reduction in testing during the Lunar New Year holiday (February 11?14), so it is considered premature to conclude that the spread is slowing. The number of tests conducted at screening clinics yesterday was 21,968, which is 1,393 fewer than the previous day’s 23,361. It is also 18,017 fewer than the 39,985 tests conducted on the last weekday before the holiday, February 10. The positivity rate calculated from tests conducted yesterday is 1.65% (362 positive cases out of 21,968 tests), slightly down from 1.73% (403 positive cases out of 23,361 tests) the previous day. The cumulative positivity rate as of midnight today is 1.36% (83,199 positive cases out of 6,115,337 tests).

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